The Two Worlds
by Lord Noctis
Summary: Just as Cloud was to face Sephiroth for the last time in the Northern Cave, something happened. A rift has opened, taking Cloud into a world he has no knowledge of. Now Squall will have to deal with this stranger, and the deadly man who pursues him.
1. Chapter 1

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

**AN:Hello everyone! This is a rewrite of my first ever fanfic, which some of you might remember. I decided a few days ago that I wanted to take my first written work, and see just how much I could do with it now that my writing skills have improved to the extent they have. I would be immesenly grateful for any feedback. It is my sincerest hope that if you read the first version of this fic that you will enjoy this version even more. And for those who did not read the original version before I took it down, I hope you enjoy this fic as well. That said, lets get underway.**

**DISCLAIMER:I do not own FFVII or FFVIII or any related materials. **

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Prologue

Cloud felt the exhaustion spreading from his mind to his limbs. His arms and legs felt almost like lead, and various injuries across his body burned with pain. A gash on his left arm, a burn across his back, at least two broken ribs, maybe more, and any number of scrapes and bruises. He ignored it all as he regarded his companions. All of them were in roughly the same shape he was. Despite there injuries, they had a certain sense of satisfaction to them. They had done it. They had beaten Sephiroth. Even if Meteor destroyed the planet, at least they would die knowing they had done everything it was possible for them to do, and Sephiroth would not be able to carry out his plans.

Cloud cast a glance towards the pit leading into the heart of the planet as he spoke. "We've done everything we can. Now lets all go home." The others did not verbally respond. They exchanged looks of comradiere. They were all of them glad to have fought along side one another. Cloud allowed himself a rare smile, and started after them.

His mind was filled with a sudden flash of pain, and he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard laughter. It was a mocking laugh filled with malice. His knees buckled and he barely put his arms out to stop from falling all the way to the ground.

Tifa heard his grunt and turned around. "Cloud!" She exclaimed.

"He's still here!" Cloud hissed, struggling to his feet. A horrible pain filled his skull. He couldn't see, he couldn't think, he could only focus on a laugh which seemed to grow increasingly powerful in his skull.

Tifa's face twisted in horror. She heard it too. Cloud's eyes widened as he realized the laugh wasn't just in his skull. It was in the air around him. Something shot out from the depths of the crater, a blur of movement dressed in black leather wielding a sword which was almost absurd in its length.

The figure landed not far from them, gazing at Cloud hatefully as the blond swordsmen whirled to face him, hand reaching for his sword.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud snarled as he sank into a defensive stance. The evil man was hunched over,as if it were difficult for him to stand. His face was paler than normal, and the mako glow in his eyes seemed to have faded. It was clear that even though he had survived the destruction of his more angelic form, he had not emerged unscathed.

"Did you really think you could destroy me?" Sephiroth demanded. "No mere human can stand against me!" He declared. The others had noticed what was happening. They tried to go to Cloud. But a sudden shockwave ripped through the ground beneath them. Massive boulders the size of houses fell from above, and a blue glow began to build within the planet. Holy was moving.

Sephiroth advanced with a blindingly fast slash of his seven foot long katana while Cloud struggled to keep his balance. Cloud was just a split second to slow in blocking the strike, and the masamune bit into his chest and sent him toppling back into the depths of the crater. His fall stopped when he smashed with brutal force into one of the many rocks floating amidst the currents of lifestream energy. Tifa lunged at Sephiroth only to be sent flying over heels by a dismissive swing of the Masamune, then the One-Winged Angel leapt after Cloud, who struggled back to his feet using his sword as a crutch. He looked up as Sephiroth landed lightly in front of him.

Above them the crater was sealed by an avalanche of falling rock. Cloud knew his friends would not be able to help him. He also knew he could not stop Sephiroth alone. Despair filled him. All their hard work, all their struggles and sacrifices were for nothing.

Sephiroth slowly stalked towards his wounded prey, letting the tip of his sword cut a furrow in the ground leaving a trail of fire. Despite his certainty that victory was not possible on his own, Cloud raised his blade anyway as he drew what little strength he had left into his muscles. Maybe he could last long enough for his friends to get to him. Some of the rubble above was already shifting, and he though he heard the engines of the Highwind on the other side.

Sephiroth noticed Cloud's gaze, and smiled coldly. "They cannot help you Cloud." Cloud lunged with all his strength, but Sephiroth was to fast. Their swords clashed and Sephiroth shoved his nemesis back with a contemptious lack of effort. Cloud would not surrender so easily however. He charged right back in with a mixture of ferocity, desperation, and a resolve more intense than anything Sephiroth had seen before. Pure unrefined power swirled around Cloud as he almost seemed to fly, and his blade moved so quickly it might have existed in three seperate places simaltaneuosly.

Sephiroth was stunned, unable to comprehend the sheer speed of it. Even as he struggled to block the attacks, he tried and failed to wrap his mind around it. Perhaps if he were at full strength he would have had a chance, but in his present condition all he could do was whatch as Cloud snatched his victory away from him.. One blow after another bit into him, and blood sprayed everywhere. Sephiroth, knowing he could not block these attacks, launched a slash of his own, but Cloud sprang back just out of range, then leapt into the air above Sephiroth to deal the finishing blow.

Sephiroth then experienced something he had never felt before. He felt powerless. He was going to die, and he could do nothing about it. He didn't have the time to gather the energy for a spell or other special ability, and he lacked the strength to raise his sword. All he could do was whatch.

Less than a second before the attack would have connected a massive surge of energy erupted from the very core of the planet, sending shockwaves ahead of it so intense that both Cloud and Sephiroth were hurtled off the platform that had served as their battleground, and into the midst of displaced Lifestream.

Cloud lost sight of Sephiroth as the blue light of Holy filled the area, seeming to consume everything. Cloud was thrown about so voilently that he could feel bones shatter from the centrifugal force, and intense energy burned at him, threatening to peel the flesh from his bones. He screamed, but the noise was drowned out by the roar of energy around him.

He began to spin voilently as he was caught in a vortex, and then there was a feeling of intense speed, and then he knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

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AN:Next chapters here. This one gave me a bit of trouble, and I'm not sure I like the way it turned out. But I'll let you guys be the judge. Again I hope you enjoy reading this.

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Chapter 2

Squall easily pulled his gunblade from the body of the monster he had just slain. He was in the training center of Balamb Garden. Normally he wouldn't come here so late, but he had a lot on his mind. At the moment he was the effective commander of Balamb Garden, even though two months had passed since they beat Ultimecia. This would have been a stressful enough job to hold even if things had gone back to normal. But they hadn't.

Galbadia was currently locked in a tense stand-off with Esthar, and the likelyhood of an all-out war was looking more likely by the moment, and Laguna, the president of Esthar and possibly Squall's father, was petitioning Squall to stand against Galbadia. To make matters worse Timber was beginning to become more voilent in its efforts to liberate itself from the oppresive nation.

The only nation that seemed to want a lasting peace was Dollet. Squall shook his head, and turned his attention back to his surroundings. Two bite bugs raced through the air towards him. Squall leapt forward with a battle-cry cleaving the nearest one in half, then spun to the side as the second one swooped in for his throat. As Squall completed the spin he brought his blade on top of the creature chopping it into the ground with a spray of bug guts.

A quick glance around showed him a lack of surviving monsters. He allowed himself a feeling of satisfaction. His cell phone chose that moment to ring.

With a sigh he flipped the device open and placed it to his ear. He kept his gunblade out in his free hand however. It wouldn't do to get eaten because he was talking on the phone.

"Squall speaking." He anwsered.

"Squall," A familiar voice came from the other end. His lips curved into a smile. "When are you coming to bed?"

"I'm training now, Rinoa. I'll be there soon." Squall informed her.

"You'd best. The beds getting cold." Came the response.

His smile widened, and a somewhat playful note entered his voice. "Well we'll have to do something about that won't we?"

"I'll be waiting." She hung up. Squall decided he could end his training early. He'd barely broken a sweat, but knowing Rinoa he was going to need his strength for the next hour or so. The two had grown much closer after they beat Ultimecia. About a week after that fateful battle they had started sharing a room. It had barely taken three days for Rinoa to decide they only needed one bed in that room. Squall had not disagreed.

He turned and started towards the exit, when a sudden disturbance stopped him. It was subtle, like a shift in air pressure. Gravity seemed to falter for a brief second, and a thin curtain of dust rose into the air. He didn't know what happened next. He felt himself flying backwards, there was a roaring sound in his ears, like a thousand fires raging at once. His vision was briefly blinded by a brilliant flash.

When he regained his senses he saw that several trees had been knocked over, and in the middle of what he assumed to be a blast radius raged a fierce fire which was spreading fast.

Squall sprang to the intercom as the fires began to spread and slapped his hand onto the button. "This is Commander Leonheart. I need a fire control squad in the training center immediately."

A calm and collected voice responded "Yes sir. They're on their way."

Under normal circumstances, Squall could have easily put out the fires himself with Blizzaga, or Water magic. However, he did not have any junctioned at the moment.

He turned to observe the fire, and saw something strange. A green glow started to emerge from the ground at the exact center of the blast zone. For a moment it grew more intense, than surged out of the ground with such intensity that dirt and rock was flng in all directions, and Squall had to brace himself to stay on his feet. When the light faded, a man with spiky blond hair and a giant sword in his hand stood there, blood running from several wounds. He looked up at Squall with strange eyes that almost seemed to glow, then collapsed.

For a brief moment Squall was paralyzed as his mind tried to process what had just happened. Then it occurred to him that a man was laying unconcious in the middle of a fire. He sprang forward and cast a protective barrier over himself to shield against the fire. Tongues of flame licked and crackled against the shimmering Shell, but none of it touched him as he made his way to the blond. He quickly removed him from the blaze and set him down against a tree some forty feet from the flames, keeping a careful eye out for monsters as he did. Most of the monsters kept for training purposes would likely have fled at the sound of the explosion, but something larger like a T-rex might decide to investigate.

Seeing no monsters, Squall spared a glance for the newcomer. It occurred to him that he was not going to be heading to bed anytime soon.

–

Soon after the fire control squad had arrived and made short work of the flames. In the meantime Squall had used Curaga magic to mend the blonds injuries, before having a medical team take him to the medical wing so they could make sure there was no internal damage.

From there Squall had announced over Garden's intercom that the training center was shut down for the time being, and arranged for two senior SeeD members to satnd guard, both to keep curious students out, and to keep an eye out for further disturbances. Finally, all that done, he made his way towards the medical ward.

As he made his way down the large circular hall that ecompassed Garden's interior he saw Rinoa come off the elevator and cast a quick glance around. He offered the slightest of gestures to gain her attention, and continued on his way. Within seconds she was at his side.

"Whats going on Squall? Why did you close the training center?" Rinoa's voice was laced with concern.

Squall considered a moment. "I'll explain later." Squall considered asking her to go send out a recall for the rest of their group, who were in the middle of a covert operation in Timber, but decided against it, for now.

In moments they arrived in the medical ward. The blond lay unmoving on a bed, and stood over him, examining him with a Scan spell.

"How is he?" Squall asked when she straigthened.

She looked preplexed. "He seems fine, but theres something strange."

"Strange?" Squall repeated.

"You've used the Scan spell many times I would assume?" Kadowaki asked. Squall anwsered with a brief nod, and then asked "Then you of course know the difference between humans and monsters." Kadowaki assumed.

Squall nodded again. Meanwhile Rinoa moved around to the side of the bed. "Who is he?"

"Don't know. He just appeared in the training center." Squall replied with a shrug.

"What do you mean just appeared?" Rinoa asked.

"One moment I was alone, then there was an explosion and he was there." He explained, then turned to Kadowaki. "You were saying?"

"The scan spell reads him as a monster, but he is clearly human. I want to do a blood test and see if that can clear it up, but for now I think we should keep a guard around." The doctor finished. Squall blinked. He remembered the way the mans eyes had glowed, and a shiver went through him.

"Agreed." He said. "As soon as you get the results from your blood test I want to know. I'll arrange for an armed guard to be down here as soon as possible. Until then, would you mind staying here Rinoa?"

"Of course." Rinoa agreed.

"I should have the results by tommorow evening at the latest." Kadwowaki told him. Squall nodded, and left the ward.

–

Rinoa sat quietly in a chair in the corner while Dr. Kadowaki prepared a needle. She wasn't really paying attention to the doctor though, she was whatching the blond on the bed. He was muscular, and fairly average in height. She couldn't quite describe it, but there was an aura of wrongness around him. Being a sorceress she was strongly attuned to such things.

Kadowaki quickly disinfected the area where she planned to draw blood, then inserted the needle.

–

For Cloud there was only darkness. He could not see anything, nor could he hear anything. His whole body had gone numb. In fact, he wasn't entirely certain he had a body. He had no vision hearing or feeling, so he could not be certain. Suddenly there was a flicker of light in his vision. His vision slowly returned, and a sense of dread filled him. He was strapped to a table in the familiar basement of the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim. Feeling returned to his limbs. He felt cold, and sweaty.

He strained his muscles in an attempt to break his bonds, but his muscles were like lead. He had no strength. A laugh reached his ears, and his eyes widened in absolute terror. Hojo appeared in his vision. Cloud thrashed voilently, he had to escape!

"Now now, hold still. You might hurt yourself...." Hojo told him. He had a needle filled with a greenish black substance. Mako and Jenova cells, Cloud knew. Now devoid of strength and unable to resist, all he could do was glare helplessely as Hojo pushed the needle into his arm. An intense burning like fire spread through his veins. A scream of agony tore out of his mouth, and his muscles strained with a primal power that went far beyond anything a normal human could produce. As Hojo's laughter filled every corner of Cloud's mind, and he made one last pull, the bonds snapped.

–

Even as Kadowaki was removing the needle the mans eyes sprang open, and a primal scream erupted from his throat. Kadowaki stumbled back in suprise as the man shot bolt upright, his eyes glaring stright at her, seeming to burn with green flames. Rinoa sprang to her feet reaching internally for her magic. The mans eyes locked on her, and with another scream he leapt.


	3. Chapter 3

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

**AN:Ok, heres the latest chapter. ould have had this up sooner but had some issues with real life. Nothing major. This chapter actually flowed a bit better than I had been intending, but I'm a bit concerned about my portrayal of Rinoa. Does she seem alright to you readers? Anyway, as usual I hope you enjoy!**

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Chapter 3

The blonds fist slammed against the shining blue barrier of Rinoa's hastily summoned protect spell. For a moment he tried to apply more pressure, then much to Rinoa's horror cracks begin to appear along the barrier. Without a second thought she summoned a sphere of crackling electricity into her palm and released it into the mans gut. He was launched into the main office with a cry of pain by the spell, where he slammed into the far wall.

For a moment Rinoa began to relax her guard, then the man regained his feet. Rinoa prepared to summon another spell when a man of about seventeen ran into the room. Rinoa recognized him as a SeeD by the name of Ryu. He was a bit headstrong and overconfident, but he was wicked with the Bo Staff. He must have been the security Squall was going to send.

In an instant Ryu took in the situation, and sprang at Cloud twirling his staff into a strike at the blonds legs, but the blond easily sprang over the strike and slammed his foot down on the boys shoulder. With a sickening crack it gave way under the force of the blow.

Rinoa extended her hand and summoned a column of fire from the ground under the blond just as he landed. With a startled yell he was thrown into the ceiling before falling to the floor. He landed in a roll and came up looking at Rinoa with suprise. She was equally surprised. There was no way he should have still been concious after that. Furthering her suprise, he began to speak.

–

As Cloud's hysteria began to wear off it occurred to him that something about this situation wasn't right. He didn't remember Hojo being able to hurl lightning or summon columns of fire. He forced himself to focus, and slowly the familiar confines of the Shinra basement melted away, to reveal an unfamiliar room. Rather than Hojo, standing before him was a young woman with a very suprised look on her face. Cloud did not recognize her anymore than he did the room they were in.

"Who are you?" He asked.

She took a moment to respond. "Tell me who you are first."

"Cloud Strife. Now anwser me." He demanded.

"I'm Rinoa Heartily." She told him cautiously.

Cloud prepared to ask his next question, when he became aware of someone sneaking up behind him. The guy with the staff was still leaning against the wall holding his injured shoulder, so it wasn't him. Cloud whirled around and raised his hand in an upward block, stopping the descent of this persons arm. It was an overweight woman dressed in the garb of a doctor, and she was holding a syringe. Cloud's eyes narrowed as he saw it. It didn't have mako or Jenova cells that he could see, probably a sedative but he couldn't tell.

Ignoring the doctors stunned look he glanced over his shoulder at Rinoa and coldly asked "Who do you people work for, Shinra?"

"Who is Shinra?" Rinoa asked uncertainly, while the doctor slowly backed off.

Cloud whirled towards her in suprise. "Don't joke around!" He growled.

Rinoa held her ground. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you're talking about."

"Shin-Ra," Cloud said emphaticly. "The mega-corporation thats practicly ruled the plnaet for the past thirty years?"

A strange look came over Rinoa's face, like she was trying to figure out if he was insane or not. "There is no such corporation."

"Liar!" Cloud roared and started forward, when the wounded boy suddenly glowed. Cloud's eyes whipped towards him. A swirl of greenish energy rppled outwards as if he was casting a spell, and with starling apruptness Cloud fell to the floor snoring.

–

Galbadia Garden cruised along the coast of the Centran continent. General Coston stared out from the command bridge viewscreen at the vast desolate landscape that stretched away from him as far as the eye could see. They were here on the order of President Caraway, to investigate unussualy high energy readings in the area. Perssonaly Coston thought it was a bad idea. In his opinion Galbadia Garden was their single most valuable military asset, being able to transport thousands of troops and enough supplies to support them for months without ever becoming crowded. More importantly it could reach almost any point on the planet in a week or less under ideal circumstances. Recent upgrades had resulted in anti-aircraft guns being installed at multiple points, along with a hangar for bombers along with other aircraft and a storage compartment for two unmanned subs. They should be using the Garden to guard against possible attacks from Esthar, or have it on standby to deal with what Coston believed was an inevitable rebellion from Timber.

He sighed to himself. He was a loyal officer. Even if he disagreed with Caraway's decisions he would follow his orders. He figured Caraway probably knew how to handle his military resources anyway, seeing as he had spent nearly two decades playing the role of General himself.

"Sir, we will be in visual range of the coordinates in five minutes." A lieutenant said from his workstation.

"Very well, what sort of readings are we getting?" Coston turned towards the other officer.

"The energy readings seem to have dropped significantly, but are still well above normal parameters." Came the response.

General Coston nodded as he turned back to the window. The sun was setting and it was starting to get dark out. Ahead on the horizon he began to see something. A slight greenish glow. As the seconds passed it grew more pronounced until he could see a dome of green energy.

"Lieutenent, what is that?" Coston asked as he gestured at the anomaly.

The other man looked at it for a moment, then consulted his instruments. "I'm not sure, but it seems to be dissipating. It should be gone within fifteen minutes."

Coston nodded silently. "Get me some eyes in the air, in five minutes I want two spotter planes launched." He received an affirmitive, and then waited. The two aircraft launched and circled easily over the anomaly for nearly ten minutes before the first report came over the speakers.

"We can see through the top here. Looks like theres something in there, a building maybe." One of the pilots reported.

Coston frowned, there were'nt supposed to be any buildings out here. The latest annual survey flights had been only a few weeks ago, and they had reported nothing but barren landscape.

"Can you confirm that?" He asked.

"Affirmitive. Looks like the sort of architecture they use in Wihill. Looks real old too." Came the reply.

Sure enough as the energy dissipated an old mansion came into view. Coston stared for a moment. On the one hand, this was certainly unusual, though he wasn't sure it warranted his attention. Either way, he was here and he wanted anwsers.

"I want two squads ready to go in twenty minutes. They are to investigate this building, in the meantime I want all of our odd-numbered guns manned, just in case."

"Aye sir!"

–

Squall frowned as Ryu finished his report. Currently he was sitting in what had once been Cid's office, in what had once been Cid's chair. Squall didn't want it, but once Cid had effectively retired Squall had been left without any choice. He had resolved to get back at him for that someday.

Now he looked to Rinoa. "Everything he said is accurate?"

"Yeah," Rinoa began. "He seemed to shrug off my offensive spells without taking any real damage. Its a good thing Ryu had some sleep magic junctioned."

"Shouldn't I still be there to make sure he doesn't wake up and try something else?" Ryu asked.

"Even though Rinoa healed your wound says your shoulder will be more fragile than normal for several days. Until then I want you to take it easy, and don't worry about the doctor's safety. I sent a full security squad down to Medical before requesting your presence here." Squall explained.

"Take it easy? But sir, I'm fine! Look." Ryu rotated his arm and flexed his shoulder muscle, then winced in pain as something popped loudly. Squall leveled a look at him. "Understood sir. I'll take it easy for a few days."

"Good, dismissed Ryu." As Ryu left the room Squall returned his gaze to Rinoa, and now with a more delicate voice asked "You alright?"

"I'm fine Squall. He didn't get any hits in." Rinoa assured him.

Squall sighed as pinched the bridge of his nose. He had come very close to losing Rinoa a few times. He wondered if he was getting over-protective. He had decided to keep her from going to Timber with the others, despite her knowledge of the situation there. Still though, it was only an intel gathering mission, nothing that needed her powers he supposed.

"Squall, your brooding again." Rinoa said.

"Sorry." Squall sat up straighter. "Why don't you go get some rest?"

She was about to respond when the door to the office swung open and Xu rushed in. Xu was one of SeeD's senior members and one of Squall's advisors.

"Sir!" She snapped a smart salute.

"What is it?" Squall stood, all buisness.

"Sir, less than an hour ago Timber resistance members bombed the Galbadian embassy. Galbadian officials have declared war."


	4. Chapter 4

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

**AN:This chapter took a bit longer than I expected due to some minor plot revision I was doing. At this point I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. Your input has been a great motivator for me, and its always nice to know somebody enjoys my work. For those of you who do read this, but don't review, don't be shy. Th more feedback I get from all of you the easier it will be for me to make this story as good as possible. That being said, please enjoy this chapter.**

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Chapter 4

Irvine listened closely to the intermittent sounds of gunfire, trying to judge how far away the fighting was. Of course, that was impossible, he realized. Galbadian troops were scattered across the city, lacking any real coordination at the moment, with Timber resistance forces hunting them down. The gunman crept down an alley and peeked around the corner into the street.

Half a dozen bodies lay in the street. Most appeared to be Galbadian troops, likely caught in an ambush. The other two were civilians who were unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire. Irvine ignored the blood and moved quickly down the street towards the house that his squad was using as a base. Near the door was another civilian whose chest appeared to have been burned open by magic. It was a gruesome sight, but Irvine had seen this sort of thing many times. He knew he would never get used to it, but he could ignore it.

He reached the door, and keeping a close eye out on the street, rapped his knuckles against the door three times. The door flew open and a hand grabbed his shirt and yanked him in.

"Thank god your safe!" He heard Slephie's voice say.

"Of course I'm safe. Its not like those guys are any good with a gun." Irvine replied looking up. Selphie was quickly checking him over for injuries, while Zell stood in a corner trying to keep calm. Quistis was absent from the room.

"Where's Quistis?" He asked.

"She's trying to contact Squall." Zell explained. Irvine nodded as he looked around. There was a table in the middle of the room, and a short hall leading into a kitchen. A closed door led into the bathroom, and a set of stairs led to the second floor where there was another bathroom and two bedrooms.

Irvine sighed as he listened to the sound of distant gunfire, and an explosion. He had been out and about, just observing things when the embassy had been bombed. After that he had spent the better part of two hours trying to get back here while dodging groups of soldiers who seemed all to happy to mow down each other, and anyone unfortunate enough to be on the streets. He couldn't remember how man civilians he had seen lying dead because they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Quistis came down the stairs, looking a little frustrated.

"Whats the word?" Irvine asked.

Quistis glanced at him. "We are to hold out here until nightfall. At that point we are to exit the city and proceed to Ragnorak. Then we return to Garden. We are to avoid cmbat if at all possible. If forced to fight we are to use non-lethal attacks as much as possible. Squall doesn't want to risk getting Balamb into this war. At least not yet." Quistis said. "Glad to see you're ok Irvine, what are things like out there?"

Irvine frowned. "Once Timber hit the embassy the Galbadians became confused and disorganized. Many of their troops were killed and they were forced to withdraw from the center of the city. Since then there has been scattered fighting here and there throughout the city. From what I saw, Galbadian forces are trying to regroup near the tv station.

"Man, how long is it until night?" Zell asked.

Irvine checked his whatch. "Eight hours."

"Eight hours!? Just the last two hours is driving me insane!" Selphie whined.

Irvine made his way over to her and gave a brief hug. "Don't worry, I'll keep you company until then." Selphie nodded. For someone of her hyper disposiion staying in one spot for eight hours would be comparable to asking anyone else to stab themselves in the face with a rusty, dull, knife.

Irvine sighed. It was going to be a long day.

–

Biggs growled as he and Wedge moved through the old and poorly maintained interior of the mantion General Caston had sent them to explore. He remembered considering leaving the Galbadian army during the whole mess with Lunatic Pandora. He was pleased that he had chosen not to, as he had finally regained his old rank. But he thought it an insult that someone of his rank was reduced to this work. Just exploring some building that had clearly been abondoned for years, maybe decades.

Oh well, he thought, as long as I get payed well.

"Its stuffy in here." Wedge commented as he sniffed the air.

"Stop complaining." Biggs commanded. He wondered if the other half of their squad, which was exploring the other half of the second floor, had found anything worthwhile yet.

The two made their way into another room which contained a bed with a chair next to it. On the wall was a portrait of a overweight man in a red suit who held himself in a dignified fashion, as if he owned all the world.

"Nice painting." Wedge commented.

Biggs spat. "Who cares about some old painting? Theres nothing of interest in this room."

"Guess you're right." Wedge sighed and leaned against the wall. There was a distinct clicking sound, and the wall opened revealing spiral staircase that wound downwards.

Biggs blinked while Wedge looked at the newly opened secret door. "On the other hand," Wedge began.

"Shut up and start exploring." Biggs growled.

"Yes sir!" edge responded, and the two of them descended.

–

General Caston had barely taken his eyes off the old mantion in the last thirty minutes. He almost hoped that if he stared long enough its presence here would start to make sense. He scoffed. When did things ever make sense? Not since President Delling had died, at least.

"Sir." Caston looked up at the lieutenant who had addressed him. "New orders incoming from Central Command. It seems Timber has entered into a state of rebellion."

Caston's eyebrow rasied slightly. "How bad is it?"

"Unclear at this time. But appearantly its bad enough for the President to order us there." Came the crisp reply.

"Wonderful." He sighed. "Inform our troops in the mansion that they have ten minutes to finish up their investigation, and then they are to return ASAP."

"Yes sir!"

–

Biggs and Wedge finally reached the bottom of the stairs. If Biggs had to guess, he would say they were well below the first floor. Before them stretched a tunnel that seemed to have been carved into the earth itself. Its was very dark. Frowning, Biggs lifted his hand, and conjured a fire spell for light. The tunnel stretched for fifty yards before ending before a heavy wooden door.

"This place gives me the creeps." Wedge declared as they moved forward. Bigg's did not disagree with him. The air here felt opressive, menacing even. Twenty yards short of the door they found an alcove leading to another door, this one open. Inside where several coffins, and the most incredible stench Bigg's had ever encountered. By unspoken agreement, the two soldirs mutually decided not to explore that room in particular.

Bigg's radio crackled with static before a voice came through. "Attention search party, you have ten minutes to conclude your investigation. At that time you are to return with all due haste to the Garden immediately. Over and out."

The two exchanged a look. "Guess we better hurry." Biggs muttered. They walked up to the last door and opened it. Inside was a room that closely resembled a library. Two odd pod like devices were against the far wall, and to their left was a hallway leading deeper into the place.

"Wedge, investigate these pods." Biggs ordered. His companion nodded, and moved to do his work. Biggs walked down the hallway. Before long he entered what he guessed was an office. A desk sat in the middle, surrounded by towering bookshelves. But what drew his attention was the fact that a man stood within this room. He had long silver hair and wore a black cape. Clutched in his left hand was a sword longer than the man was tall.

The man looked up at Biggs as he entered the room, and slowly turned to face him. Two gleaming catlike eyes glared at him from a pale face.

"Identify yourself!"Biggs commanded as he raised his gun.

The man cocked his head. "Identify myself?" He chuckled, then stalked forward a couple of steps.

"Halt!" Biggs commanded as he clicked the safety off.

A maniacal grin split the mans face from ear to ear as he raised his sword in both hands and lunged. Biggs' finger tightened on the trigger, and a single gunshot echoed through the basement.

–

Wedge's head snapped up as he heard the gunshot, and he drew his sword. "Biggs!?" He called. No response.

"Biggs!" He called again.

Nothing could have described the relief he felt when he heard his superiors voice. "Relax, I'm fine." The officer walked into the room.

"Why'd you fire your gun?" Wedge asked.

"There was a damn rat. Bastard spooked me is all." Biggs explained.

"Understood sir!" Wedge replied, then after checking his whatch. "I think its time to return to the Garden, sir."

"Of course, lets get moving." Biggs agreed. Wedge turned and walked for the exit. Biggs paused for a moment and allowed himself a small predatory smile. This was almost to easy. He followed Wedge out.


	5. Chapter 5

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

**AN: Ladies and gentlemen I have finally reached that wonderful point in my life where I can honestly say I graduated high-school. So, until I'm able to secure a job, which basicly impossible in this town unless you know people, I will be able to update this fic more often. So I now present chapter 5. I hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Squall did his best to suppress his headache, but it was no use. He had spent the last hour trying hard not to worry about his friends in Timber, and as a way to distract himself had begun doing a background check into Cloud Strife. That had not gone quite as he had planned. He didn't know what he had expected to find. Maybe a criminal record. Maybe a page marked 'Classified'. What he had not expected to find was a complete lack of any information. With a sigh he pinched the bridge of his nose, and resolved to try again.

He once again typed Cloud's name and description into the search engine, and frowned as a message popped up informing him "Your search parameters are invalid" Squall tried just a name search without the description next. A few pages came up. One detailed a wheather observation station near Dollet. Aside from that there were a few people with the name, but none of them matched Cloud's appearance.

"Maybe its a codename." Squall mused to himself.

Squall managed to avoid jumping in suprise when a voice behind him said "What would it stand for?"

Squall turned to see Rinoa standing there looking with interest between him and the screen. "I don't know." He confessed. "But theres not a shred of information on this guy."

"Maybe its an assumed name?" Rinoa suggested.

"Perhaps." Squall allowed. A moment of silence passed. "I think," Squall began "That I should have a chat with this Cloud."

Rinoa nodded. "That should be possible. He's awake now, and not to happy about being in a cell."

"I'll make the preperations." Squall declared as he stood, and exited the room.

–

Cloud paced his cell with a mindless energy. He had awoken here maybe twenty minutes ago, and had been unable to stop moving since. He tried to remember the details leading to this imprisonement. The last clear memory he had was of Sephiroth. They had been fighting in the core of the planet, just the two of them, sword to sword. Cloud remembered feeling a power like nothing he had known flowing through him as he overwhelmed Sephiroth. Then he remembered a swirl of pain and light.

He hadn't been conciouss very much since then, but he could more or less remember what he had experienced in those instances. I must be in a Shinra prison, Cloud thought. But that mde little sense, he thought as he regarded the cell. There was a door leading into a very small bathroom, a chair in one corner, and a small but comfortable bed in the other. This was far to nice to be a Shinra Cell. Besides, that woman, Rinoa, hadn't seemed to know what Shinra even was.

Cloud's thoughts were interrupted when the cell door was opened and two people, one male, one female, wearing unfamiliar uniforms stood there. The male carried a short sword, and the female was armed with two handguns.

"Please come with us, the commander wishes to speak with you." The girl said. Briefly Cloud contemplated trying to escape. He dcided against it. These two were armed and seemed comfortable with their weapons. Besides, this might be a good chance to learn more about his situation.

"Alright."

–

The windows of the small house rattled sharply and the ground seemed to jerk under the force of a nearby explosion. Irvine's head snapped up, and the window was briefly lighted with the glow of flames. His ears were deafened by the sound. Cussing silently to himself, he made his way to the window and looked. A galbadian aircraft had just slammed hard into a building across the street a few houses down the block.

The aircaft itself was no suprise. Galbadian craft had been making bombing runs and dropping troops and supplies into the city for the last half-hour. It looked like the resistance had gathered the fire-power to take them down.

As his hearing returned he heard Zell say "Holy shit! That one was to close man!"

"No kidding! I think one of my teeth got shaken out." Selphie declared, then after a moment added "Nope, all teeth accounted for."

Quistis sighed. "Its getting to dangerous to stay here. We need to move out early.

"I agree." Irvine nodded. The sound of distant artillery and cannon fire echoed across the city amidst the backdrop of thousands of handheld weapons being fired or swung at people. The fighting was getting worse.

"Thats what I'm talking about!" Zell sprang to his feet and moved for the door. The ground shook again with another explosion, and the window burst inwards.

"Lets take the back door!" irvine suggested as he moved quickly through the house. As the group emerged from the building the source of the second explosion was revealed in the form of a smoldering tank. Must have been targetted by one of the bombs, Irvine thought.

"Alright." Quists began calmly "Lets stick to the alleys as much as possible until we get out of the city. Remember, avoid combat if it all possible, and use non-lethal force wherever possible."

"You got it." Irvine nodded.

"Done deal." Zell agreed.

Selphie added "I don't like killing anyway. Its so messy!"

"Yes it is." Irvine said, ruffling her hair a bit.

"Lets move." Quists said as she set out. The others followed. Several times they had to double-back or find a different route due to intense fighting, or the remains of bombed buildings, blocking their path. On one occasion they had been forced t use Sleep magic to put a group of Timber soldiers to sleep when they mistook them for enemies. A galbadian troop had spotted them near a pub and Irvine had been forced to shoot him in the leg.

It was starting to grow dark by the time they reached the outskirts of town, but the glow of fires all over the city made it seem bright as day. Massive billowing clouds of smoke filled the air in and around Timber.

Irvine glanced up as a pair of Galbadian fighter jets raced over head. A spray of anti-aircraft fire rose up from inside the city and tore into the two jets. One plummeted into the city. The other spiralled out of control and slammed into the side of the tv station, exploding in a great fireball.

"They're really goin' at it yo." Zell said solemnly.

"Yeah." Was all Irvine had to say. They made their way out of the city, unsuprised to find the guards who normally guarded the entrance lying in pools of their own blood amidst three Galbadian troops and a handful of civillians. A sick feeling rose in the gunmans stomache as he saw a little girl lying face down in the street, and knew his companions felt it to.

They said nothing as they sprinted away from the city, determined to get as far away from the senseless killing as possible. They came to a halt as the giant form of Galbadia Garden climbed over a nearby hill, its various lights illimunating the night air with eery light. Irvine's throat constricted slightly as he saw it. The Timber esistance couldn't beat that. This whole fight, and all the death it had brought, was ultimately pointless. That was the way of war.

–

General Caston regarded the flaming city with a stony expression. There was so much smoke that he could'nt see much except what was illuminated by the flames.

"Report." He ordered the comm Officer.

"Base commanders report heavy casualties. Reinforcements deployed two-hours ago managed to secure the train station, and survivors of the opening assualt were holed up in the tv station. We've lost contact with them. It seems one of our jets crashed into the building after being hit with anti-aircraft fire." Came the reply.

Caston nodded. "Prepare to deploy all tanks into the city. Send out the spotter plains to see if they can identify enemy command points. Once they do I want our bombers to hit them fast and hard."

"Yes sir!"

Satisfied that his orders would be carried out, Caston returned his gaze to the city. How many of his fellow Galbadians had died this day? How many wives had lost their husbands? How many children would have to grow up without their fathers? How many more would die before the day was done? His fists clenched, and his teeth ground together. The people of Timber would pay for every single one.

–

Biggs and Wedge were already on standby, tense with anticipation for the coming battle. Or at least Wedge was. Biggs seemed oddly detatched, almost as if he had no interest in anything around him. When the alarm sounded he barely responded. Right now the two were moving down the hall to the main vehicle bay to act as support for the tanks.

"Hey Biggs, you feeling alright?" Wedge asked.

"I'm fine." Biggs replied curtly.

"You sure? You've been acting weird since we left the mansion." Wedge pointed out.

Biggs growled in annoyance. "I told you I'm fine."

"If you say so." Wedge muttered doubtfully.

Suddenly Biggs came to a halt, his head cocked to one side as if he were listening to something. Wedge looked at him curiously. If he could have seen under his superiors helmet, he would have noticed that his eyes had suddnely turned to green cat-like slits. Biggs cast his mind out to another place, and listened.

–

Cloud was led into a classic interrogation room. A square metal table sat in the middle of a somewhat dark room with a single metal chair on either side. What appeared to be a mirror, but what Cloud strongly suspected was actually a one-way mirror, sat against the wall on his right. After several moments of waiting for his questioner to arrive, he was rewarded. The door opened, and a man in a dark well decorated uniform walked in. The man had thick brown hair and a scar running diagonally down his face. He looked young, younger than Cloud even, but his eyes held the look of a veteran warrior.

"Cloud Strife, isn't it?" The man asked as he moved to take the chair opposite Cloud.

Cloud did not respond, other than to offer a slight nod of his head. "My name is Squall." Cloud offered another nod.

"I have some questions to ask you." Squall told him.

Cloud resisted the urge to scoff. Of course he had questions. Thats why they were in an interrogation room after all.

"Then ask them." Cloud said.

"What year were you born in?" Squall asked.

Cloud frowned. "Isn't that in my file?"

Now Squall frowned. "Maybe it is. Tell me anyway."

"You don't have a file on me." Cloud replied, feeling mildly surprised by that fact. That almost certainly ruled out Shinra as his captors. Shinra probably had a file the size of Meteor on him.

Squall managed not to wince as he repeated "What year were your born in?"

"I was born in 1986." Cloud told him.

A curious mix of confusion and surprise came over Squall's face. "You look pretty good for someone that old."

A hint of concern entered Cloud's mind, though outwardly he remained calm. "What year is it?"

"The year is 2149." The awnser came like a blow to the gut. Cloud could not help a gasp of surprise.

Squall maintained an expressionless look as he whatched Cloud's reaction to this news. "What year did you think it was?"

"2008." Cloud responded blankly.

"Place of birth?" Squall pressed forward.

"I was born and raised in Nibelheim." Cloud said slowly.

"And where is that?" Squall asked as he briefly scanned his memory. He didn't remember any place by that name, but he hadn't been to every single town and villiage on the planet either.

"It sits at the base of the nibel mountain range." Cloud explained.

"I'm afraid no such place exists." Squall informed him. Cloud remained silent as he pondered this information. For the moment, he retreated inside his mind in an effort to look at the facts. The year was wrong. He considered he could be in the future. But even if that were so people should still know about Shinra from history. Barring even that, there was no way the nibel mountain range could dissapear in such a short period of time. That left only one possibility. This was not his world.

He looked up at Squall. The man was observing him, and based on the look the other man had on his face he had reached conclusions of his own.

"So either your from a different world," He began after several tense moments "Or you're completely delusional.

Cloud opened his mouth to protest, but how did he know Squall was wrong? His mind had always been frail. His own memories had been fractured and rearranged by Jenova, and later twisted by Sephiroth. How could he be sure of his memories? How could he be sure any of his memories had ever happened? A small voice in the back of his head reminded him, reminded him of the time he and Tifa had spent in the lifestream. She had helped him find his true self, restored his mind and memories. He had to trust that, or whatever sanity he had would vanish.

"The first option seems more likely." Cloud said at last.

Squall was doubtful, but if time travel was possible, who was he to say going from one dimension to another was impossible?

"Very well then. For the time being you will be relocated from your cell to more comfortable arrangements. We have some vacant SeeD quarters you can use. You will also have access to the cafeteria, library, and Infirmary. When leaving your quarters you will be under escort." Squall explained.

"Why?" Cloud asked.

"You haven't committed any crime, so you don't need t be kept in a cell. However, I want to keep you under observation here at Balamb Garden until we can discover more about why you arrived here. Besides, if you really are from another world I doubt you're very familiar with the history locations or cultures of this one. You should take some time in the library to learn about those things."

Cloud supposed that made sense, and if it meant getting out of his cramped cell he was all for it. Squall stood and exited the room. A moment later the two who had brought him here came to escort him to his new living space.

–

"Biggs!" Wedge snapped. Biggs slowly glanced at him. "You zoned out there for a minute." Wedge said.

Biggs' face contorted into a contemptious sneer. Wedge suddenly had the sensation of something looking through his memories, his knowledge. The sensation grew quite unpleasant when the entity seemed to tear the location of Balamb right out of his skull.

"So thats where I'll find him." Biggs muttered, in a voice not his own. He turned and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" Wedge said rushing into the path of his superior. He was certain something was horribly wrong with his longtime boss and friend.

A single hand shot out faster than he could see and wrapped around his throat. Before Wedge could even process what was happening he was being held three feet off the floor. The other soldiers in the bay looked up in alarm, some reaching for weapons. Wedge struggled for breath. Slowly, the image of Biggs melted away, revealing a different man standing in his place. This man wore a black leather battle-coat and had long silver hair. He glared up at Wedge with green cat-like eyes.

Then, in a voice laced with arrogant contempt he spoke. "Your time has come."


	6. Chapter 6

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

**AN:Well, here we have another chapter. Not really much for me to say about this one other than I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Chapter 6

Wedge stared in down at his assailant with a mix of shock and terror. The man's mouth stretched into a maniacal grin as he threw Wedge across the room and into the wall with enough force to break bones.

In an instant half a dozen troops began firing their assualt rifles at the man, who casually raised his hand before him. Hundreds of lead projectiles were deflected off a blue barrier, and the mans trench coat and hair flapped wildly as an electric charge built in his feet, travelled up his body and exited from his palm. The blast shot into the nearest tank. The soldiers inside could be heard screaming a second before the tank exploded, and the elctricity leapt from tank to tank.

Shrapenel flew everywhere slicing into many unfortunate troops, and others were melted nearly in two by the electric surge before it finally dissipated when it struck the bay door, melting a sizable hole. Alarm klaxons blared, and water sprayed from the fire supression system as the lighting went red. Wedge was somehow stilll conciouss despite it all. His nose was filled with the stench of scorched flesh and ozone. His vision was blurred by smoke, and the explosions had temporarily deafened him. As he whatched, the silver-haired man summoned a seven foot katana to his hands and descended upon the surviving troops, almost gleefuly hacking them to pieces amidst sprays of blood and gore.

Men from the other side of the bay rushed towards the fray, determined to help their comrades. The man almost cassualy flicked a fireball at them. Wedge heard their screas, and he saw their flesh melt off of their bones as their mutilated corpses collapsed to the floor. There was a moment of stillness as the man observed his handiwork, looking almost bored. His eyes rested on Wedge for a brief second, and the Galbadian soldier closed his eyes, certain that his death was at hand. He was surprised to hear footsteps moving away from him.

He looked up, and watched the man jump out the hole in the bay door and vanish into the night.

–

"General Caston!" The lieutenant cried suddenly.

"What is it?" Caston demanded. Whatever it was he could tell by the mans look that it was serious indeed.

"We have a breach in the primary vehicle bay! Automated reports indicate an explosion of some kind." Came the report.

"Dispatch a a medical squad and security team immediately, and get me the security camera for that section." Caston ordered. While his orders were being carried out, he sent another glance out at Timber. In minutes they would have been ready to deploy. But if their tanks had been damaged then this battle could turn into a very long and bloody fight.

"Cameras are out, medical team will be there in one minute."

–

Irvine and the others finally dashed over the top of the final hill and found themselves looking down upon the Ragnorak, which was nestled nicely between two hills. Irvine couldn't think of the last time he had been so glad to see it.

"Woo hoo! We made it!" Selphie declared.

"That we did, now lets get inside fast." Irvine replied as he rushed to the boarding ramp. Selphie made her way to the boarding ramp, and quickly put in the password to lower it. Before long the four were safely on board and moving to the bridge.

"We should probably wait to take off." Quistis said as she glanced out the view screen.

Irvine followed her gaze, which rested on the massive Galbadian Garden only a few miles away. "I agree. If we take off now Galbadia will almost certainly spot us."

"Man, more waiting." Zell sighed and flopped down into a chair.

–

Caston listened closely to the report coming over the intercom. "Heavy damage to the bay doors, I don't think they'll open. About eleven tanks destroyed, and maybe thirty casualties. We've found a survivor."

"Get him to medical, I'll want to speak with him later." Caston replied.

"Already done sir." Caston felt a hint of pride at the efficiency of his men, but it was quickly suppressed by the severity of the situation.

"Have the spotter planes sweep the area, and run some scans. I want to know how the bastard got aboard, and how he escpaed!" Caston growled.

"Yes sir." Came the response. Several moments passed before one of the men said "Sir, we're getting a video feed from plane 2."

"Show it." An image appeared on the viewscreen, of a large red dragon shaped air-craft. Caston knew it. "Ragnorak. So SeeD is here. Bring us about. Lets see if we can catch them before they take off."

"Yes sir!"

–

Irvine's eyes narrowed as the spotter plane raced overhead, briefly circled them, and dissapeared over a hilltop. He could see Galbadia Garden beginning to swing around.

"Get us into the air, now!" Quistis ordered, having also seen it. In an instant Selphie brought the egines online, and the mighty airship began to rise off the ground, while the others quickly moved to their own consoles.

"Looks like two fighter jets are moving to attack!" Zell reported.

"No worries, I got this!" Selphie declared as Ragnorak took to the sky with incredible speed. The two jets came in from the side, straffing the airship with their machine guns as it shot by before pulling in behind it.

"Took some hits, nothin' to bad!" Zell reported.

"It looks like they're matching our speed!" Quistis said in alarm, as more bullets tore into Ragnoraks rear armor. With a rare grimace, Selphie swung the ship to one side to get away from the fire. Unfortunately her maneuver brought Ragnorak in range of the Garden's own weapons, and powerful artillery shells flashed through the night sky just barely missing Ragnorak as it flew under their firing arc and passed by.

Nobody spoke as they flew over the ocean, with the two jets in hot pursuit. They fired a few bursts, but they weren't close enough to do any damage. The two jets both fired a pair of missles that raced towards Ragnorak faster than it could fly away.

The cockpit was filled with the sound of alarm klaxons as Irvine shouted "Incoming!" Selphie swerved, and three of the missles shot harmlessely past. But the fourth missle slammed into the left wing, erupting into a powerful explosion that sent the airship spinning wildly through the air.

"We're hit!" Zell declared.

"No shit!" Irvine shouted back.

"Thats it! I don't care what Squall said, I can't shake these guys so I'm gonna shoot back!" Selphie shouted. Despite some protests, Selphie made good on her promise as she struggled the airship back under control, then swung around to face the oncoming jets, both of which sprayed machine gun fire at the Ragnorak. Selphie did not hesitate. Both of the Ragnoraks forward machin guns unloaded. The first jet took multiple hits head on before exploding. The other spiralled towards the water where it crashed, though not before the pilot ejected and deployed his parachute.

"Shit man. I know that was neccesary, but we are gonna catch hell once Squall hears about this." Zell said.

"I'm sure Squall will understand." Quistis responded.

Selphie brought the battered airship around, and set a course for Balamb.

–

General Caston of the Galbadian army felt like screaming in frustration. He wanted to strangle something. But outwardly, he seemed to lack any and all emotion as he simply said "They got away."

"Uh, yes sir." His lieutenant confirmed.

Caston nodded slowly. "Send a rescue plane out for the pilot, and return us to Timber."

"Sir, without our tanks we might not be able to retake the city." Caston's teeth ground together as he heard this news. But as much as he wanted to press the attack, as much as he wanted to destroy the Timber resistance, he knew that victory was not possible. Not this time.

"Understood. Prepare to lay down cover fire for our men, and sound the retreat." Caston glared coldly from his observation point as he delivered the order, and struggled to suppress his rage.

–

The man stood atop a hill, his coat flapping in the wind, and his blood soaked sword held casually in his left hand. He tilted his face into the wind. How good it felt to be alive, and to shed that annoying illusion. His eyes looked down on the war torn city below, and regarded the large floating construction he had so recently been aboard.

Sephiroth did not know how he had come to this world, but he was enjoying himself. Because he knew that here, Cloud was alone. Cloud who had robbed him of his birthright, and stopped his rise to godhood. Cloud, who had humiliated him. But Cloud was without help here, Sephiroth knew. A wicked smile crossed his face as he softly lifted into the air, and flew away.


	7. Chapter 7

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:I honestly didn't expect to get this chapter done this soon. At first writing this chapter was just slow as you can imagine. I spent four hours to write the first paragraph. Then it was like a damn broke and things just flowed. So hopeflly my burst of creativity has resulted in an entertaining chapter. As usual, I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 7

Cloud looked over the room he had been assigned. There was a bedroom with a comfy bed, a window giving a nice view of what he supposed was a campus of some sort, and a desk in the corner. There was also a small kitchen and bathroom. It wasn't very roomy, but it was livable, Cloud decided. However, he was annoyed that they had not returned his sword. He had asked his escort about it, but they had simply shaken their heads and told him they didn't know when or if he would get it back.

"Could be worse." He decided. After all, he remembered the times when he had to sleep out in the wild, constantly on guard against monsters and worrying about the wheather. But he had always had his friends with him back then, he supposed. A hollow pang shot through him at the thought. He had always been able to depend on his friends. Especially Tifa. She had pulled him from the brink. But he knew they weren't here, in this new world.

He sighed. Maybe it was time to go to the library and pick up some reading material. If he just sat here with nothing to do, he knew these thoughts would drive him insane. He turned, and moved for the door.

–

As he travelled steadily closer to Balamb, Sephiroth became increasingly aware of Cloud's presence. He settled into a forest and looked around briefly. Seeing no monsters, he settled into a sitting position and cast out his mind, following the strings that tied Cloud to him. He smiled in an amost pleasant fashion as their minds made contact.

–

Cloud followed his escorts, who had identified themselves as Jenny and Robert, though he preferred to be called Robby, towards the Library of Balamb Garden.

As they walked he decided to try and spark a conversation. "This place doesn't seem like a normal military installation." He observed. "Seems more like an academy.

"Its both." Robby shrugged.

Cloud expressed a vaguely confused look, so Jenny explained. "SeeD Is sort of like a mercenary organization, though we also act as Balamb's military in times of need. This Garden acts as a combination base, transport, and academy."

"You sure we should tell him all that?" Robby asked.

"Its no big deal, everybody knows this stuff." Jenny replied.

"Balamb doesn't have its own military?" Cloud was a little surprised about that.

"It does have a police force, but it doesn't have a standing army of its own. Its a small place and can't afford one. Since Balamb funds and supplies Garden, we act as its military." Jenny told him.

"So, what happens if someone tries to hire you for a job against Balamb?" Cloud pushed forward, determined to learn as much as he could.

This time Robby anwsered him. "To be honest, after the Sorceress war we kinda dropped the mercenary part. At least with bigger governments. Now days we hire out to smaller villiages that aren't under the protection of any countries."

"The sorceress war?" Cloud asked.

"Ah, I suppose you wouldn't know about that, eh?" Robby glanced at Cloud. Cloud winced slightly, reminded that he did not belong here. "I don't know all the details, but some Sorceress in the future reached back to our time in order to do something, not really sure what. She used Galbadia as a puppet to do it and they ended up at war with us, since the first and most important mission of SeeD is to eliminate corrupt Sorceress's. Eventually Commander Squall and his crew went into the future, again I'm not sure how, and beat her before coming back."

Cloud blinked at the odd tale, but before he could comment, Jenny said "Look, we've reached the library. We'll hang out by the main desk, you let us know when you want to check out. You don't have a card, so you'll need ours."

"Sure." Cloud replied. He moved into the library.

–

Squall sighed as he sat in his office, awaiting Quistis, who was coming to report on her teams behalf. He was immensely relieved that they were safe, but he knew things had gone badly in Timber. Already news broadcasts were talking about the thousands of lives lost in the initial fighting. As if that wasn't bad enough, he had received a request from President Caraway himself to attend a video-conference in less than two hours time.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. There was no way he hadn't heard about what happened with Ragnorak, and it was probable that he suspected SeeD was helping Timber. If that were the case, then Balamb could soon find itself caught in a war he knew they did not have the resources to win. He supposed Laguna would come to their aid. But if that scenario came to pass, Squall knew the death toll would be in the millions, easily.

Quistis walked in and gave him the SeeD salute. "Squall." She said in greeting.

Squall nodded in greeting, then said "Whats your report?"

Quistis frowned. "It didn't go well. We were spotted prior to take-off and were forced to gun-down two galbadian jets. Ragnorak suffered extensive damge, and will be out of the air for at least two weeks, maybe more. We managed to avoid any killing in the city itself, and only significantly harmed one person. Thats my report."

Squall nodded. "In two hours I will be attending a video-conference with President Caraway. I would like you to attend as well along with Xu. Until then, get some rest."

"Sir." She said, then turned to leave.

"And Quistis?" Squall called after her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Tell the others I'm glad you all made it back."

"Of course."

–

Cloud looked for books relating to the geography and general history of this world. On an impulse he grabbed a magazine entitled 'Weapons Monthly' from a shelf.

Feeling satisfied, he made his way back towards the main desk. He froze in mid-step when he felt his battle-sense suddenly scream warnings at him. His eyes quickly scanned the area for threats, and saw nothing. Slowly, he forced his muscles to relax despite the continued warnings flashing through his mind. He took a few steps, and felt a sudden dizziness that nearly toppled him over.

Whats wrong with me, he wondered. He couldn't think straight, and his facial muscles began to twitch uncontrollably. He could feel a cold sweat pouring off of him, and his mind began to blur. He couldn't focus on anything. He was only vaguely aware of concerned voices around him. He felt the sudden urge to attack the source of these voices, and was about to do so when a sudden warmth spread through him.

As his vision cleared he became aware that he had fallen to his knees. Jenny and Robby were crouched at his sides, looking concerned, and confused.

"What happened?" Robby asked. He managed to keep his voice level when he spoke.

"I'm not sure." Cloud replied honestly.

"Are you sure?" Jenny demanded. Seeing Cloud's confused look, she told him "Somehow you were just poisoned and confused."

"That can't be, I would have noticed somebody using magic on me." Cloud said slowly.

"Either way, its a good thing I had some Esuna magic." Robby sighed with relief. Cloud decided that might have been a bit premature when a stabbing pain tore through his lungs. Without the cnfusion effect, he could clearly recognize the effects of poison magic in his system. His breathing became labored, and pain spread through his body.

Cloud shot to his feet as he clutched at his head and growled "Whats happening!?" He tried to scan his surroundings for some threat, but there was nothing that he could see.

"Not again!" Robby exclaimed even as he cast Esuna on Cloud. This time it didn't work. If anything, it only seemed to make it worse, as Cloud collapsed in a coughing fit. He was horrified as blood sprayed from his mouth. He nearly passed out, he should have passed out, but something reached into his mind and forced him to stay awake. Something, or someone, wanted him to be awake for every second of this. If he hadn't been in such incredible pain, he might have been able to think clearly enough to realize who.

–

Sephiroth resisted the urge to laugh at Cloud's pain. He wasn't done just yet. As Cloud curled into the fetal position, and blood ran from his mouth and nose while Robby called for medics, and Jenny tried desperately to heal the blond, Sephiroth continued to apply the poison magic, tying it directly into Cloud. No amount of Esuna magic or antidotes could remove it now. Even still, there was more. He slowly, carefully applied just enough Regen magic into Cloud to keep him alive, but not enough to relieve the pain, or the sense of dying. All the while he made sure to block Cloud's thoughts from figuring out what was causing his pain. Sephiroth locked it all into place. Now he allowed himself to laugh as he lay back and allowed himself to enjoy Cloud's suffering.


	8. Chapter 8

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:Here we have another chapter. You ever have a time where you go a few days without being able to write a sentence, then suddnly a dam breaks and you can't stop writing? That is this chapter.

Anyway, I would like to once again extend my appreciation to everyone who has taken the time to read this so far, especially to those of you who have left reviews. It is incredible the effect a single positive review can have on a persons drive to keep writing. So thank you very much, and please enjoy this latest chapter.

* * *

Chapter 8

Squall moved down the hallway of Balamb Garden as fast as he could without running. He had just finished putting on his formal attire when he had received word that Cloud had somehow been afflicted with poison, and all attempts at healing it had failed. He had quickly left his office while calling Rinoa to request her presence in the Infirmary as well. While she may not have been a healer or medic, her powers as a Sorceress could allow her to do things with magic that were far beyond the abilities of any SeeD. He hoped that her range of abilities might be useful in this situation.

He entered into the Infirmary, and didn't need to ask Cloud's confused and extremely worried escorts which room Cloud was in. The screaming led the way. When he entered the room it was to see Kadowaki administering an antidote directly into Cloud's veins.

Squall whatched in fascinated horror, to shocked for a moment to speak. Cloud thrashed wildly despite three nurses trying desperately to hold him still, his skin extremely pale, blood oozing from his ears, mouth, nose, and eyes. But worst of all was the way his eyes seemed to be shifting between there normal blue color, and green catlike slits that held the promise of death.

Squall shook off his shock as he heard Kadowaki address him. "Wheres Rinoa!?" She demanded loudly.

"On her way." Squall replied.

"I've tried everything I know how to do, and even a few things I don't! Nothings helped, if anything he's been getting worse. If Rinoa can't do anything then I don't think he'll survive." Kadowaki said with an uncharacteristic note of defeat in her voice, as she simply tried to keep the blond from hurting himself. Squall moved to help, and quickly called Cloud's escorts to help as well. Between them, they were able to keep Cloud still, but the blond still screamed with inhuman agony.

"Why haven't you given him any sedatives?" Squall hissed.

"I did! They just seemed to evaporate as soon as I injected them!" Kadowaki sounded baffled.

"Pain killers?' Squall pressed on.

Kadowaki might have scowled if she hadn't been trying to stop Cloud from punching Robby. "If I give him to many things then the medicine itself could kill him! I've already given him far more than is actually safe!"

Squall didn't ask if Kadowaki might have accidentally caused part of Cloud's condition. He knew her better, she would never slip up in a manner that could endager somebody under her care.

Squall looked up as he heard a sharp gasp to see Rinoa standing in the doorway. "Rinoa!" He growled. "We need help!" Rinoa didn't ask what to do, she simply chanelled her magic into a more powerful and thorough form of the Scan spell in an effort to locate the problem.

Her eyes widened at what she sensed. She felt the poison magic had not simply been cast on Cloud, but tied into his very being, along with a weak regen spell. It was almost like somebody was trying to make his death as painful as possible. She quickly relayed what she sensed to the others.

"Can you fix it?" Squall kept calm, despite the unusual circumstances. Even as he asked, he was stunned to hear a laugh come from Cloud's mouth. It sounded mocking, and humorless. Then he screamed again.

In that brief moment, Rinoa thought she caught a glimpse of somebody else in Cloud's place. Before she could speculate, Squall repeated his question.

"I don't know, but I'll try!" Rinoa assured him. She focused herself in the center of her power, and drew on it as heavily as she dared, then reached out for the lethal magic tied into Cloud's very being.

–

Sephiroth was taking great pleasure in listening through Cloud's ears, and whatching through his eyes, on those occasions when they weren't clenched shut, listening to the people who desperately tried to help him. He actually surprised himself when he slipped briefly, allowing his laugh to emerge from Cloud's vocal cords. He shrugged mentally, noting how it unnerved the others in the room. Whatching them struggle to unravel the mystery before them was almost as fun as Cloud's screams.

Then he felt another presence reaching into Cloud. He blinked, then carefully turned his attention to the new entity. He quickly identified it as the female who had so recently entered the room. Her name was Rinoa, if he had heard right. His criosity turned to alarm when he felt her begin to delicately remove the poison he had woven into Cloud. His face twisted into a snarl as his will lashed out at her.

She recoiled both mentally and physicly, eliciting a concerned exclamation of "Rinoa!" From Squall.

"Something attacked me!" Rinoa was shocked. She had felt incredible pain briefly fill her mind along with a brief glimpse of two green catlike eyes that burned with hatred, warning her to stay away or suffer the consequences.

Rinoa grimaced as she plowed back in. Sephiroth began to feel genuine anger as he lashed out again. This time she held her ground against his initial assualt, though he could sense the pain it caused her.

He pushed harder, using his will like a blade, intending to shred apart her mind. She crumpled to her hands and knees, and once again withdrew.

However, something unexpected had happened. As his will engaged this foolish woman, his hold on Cloud slipped ever so slightly. Just enough for the blond to sense his presence.

"Sephiroth!"

–

Squall had gone from confused, to concerned, to outright terrified as Rinoa claimed to be under some sort of attack, then crumpled to the floor in apparent agony. He heard Cloud yell that name, Sephiroth, with a combination of fear and hatred. He left the blonds side to help Rinoa, while his mind filed away the name for future refference.

"Are you alright?" He asked, not even caring about the fear in his voice as he kneeled down next to to Rinoa.

She nodded slowly as she looked back up. "I saw him." She said, so quietly that Squall had to read her lips. "I saw fire." She added in a daze.

Squall frowned as he shook her by the shoulders. "Snap out of it!" he commanded.

"I'm gonna try again." Rinoa said.

"Like hell you are!" Squall protested, but already she had cast her mind back into the fray.

She felt that malovelant will, like a cancer infesting the blonds mind. It seemd angered and amused by her approach. She struck fiercely with all the ferocity she could manage, not aware that her physical arm had shot out throwing Squall to the floor.

The other being seemed surprised by her attack, and was thrown back. He rose up at her again, and again she struck. This time there wills met head on. For a moment Rinoa forgot her name, and what she was doing, from the sheer force of her adversaries mental strike. Then another presence seemed to strike at Sephiroth. It was Cloud. The evil will cast him back down easily, but left itself open to another attack by Rinoa. The majority of its strength seemed to vanish.

Satisfied that Sephiroth could not attack her mind directly, for the moment anyway, she resumed trying to relieve the magic that infected Cloud. Sephiroth reached in, tying in new strands as fast as she could remove the old ones, faster even. A cold contempt radiated from that man as he seemed to triumph.

Out loud, Rinoa told those who shared the room with her "He's to strong, I can't do it." Despite her words, she was still trying, but she knew she could not keep this up. She was slowing down, while her adversary seemed unfazed by it all. She felt a mild sense of dissapointment from her foe, along with "_Pathetic." _

She growled. If she had been thinking straight, she might have backed off at this point, might have decided that this stranger simply wasn't worth the risk. But her mind was pretty scrambled form the mental slashes and collisions. She allowed her full powers as a Sorceress to erupt through her. Two large wings manifested from her back and spread out, while shockwaves of arcane power shattered the windows and threw the other occupants of the room back.

It was a struggle to control this much power, but somehow she directed it at her intended quarry. Sephiroth was rather alarmed when a series of Flare vortexes opened up all around his current location in the forest. He was able to maintain his mental hold on Cloud as he sprang away from the raging flames that tried to consume him, but he was starting to lose his grip. He was stunned that this Rinoa possesed the magical abilities to cast spells at him from such a distance, using his mental link with Cloud as something of a transmitter for the attacks. If he hadn't been so angry, he might have been impressed by it.

Rinoa tore away Sephiroth's remaining hold on Cloud while continuing to summon various spells all around Sephiroth, then unwove the magic that threatened Cloud's life. Finally, the blond stopped crying out in agony.

Rinoa slowly began to retreat back into her body as exhaustion began to take hold. The last thing she felt from her opponent was a cold rage, mixed with a sense of interest. Then it was over. Rinoa slumped into an unconcious state, and the others were only left to stare between her, and Cloud.

Squall honestly didn't care when his internal clock informed him that it was time for his meeting with Caraway. Somehow, for this moment at least, it just didn't matter.


	9. Chapter 9

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN: I have been struck with a surge of creativity. In fact as soon as this is posted I'm going to write the next chapter. I might even post it in the same night, though that may be pushing it. Anyway, as usual it is my sincerest hope that you ejoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 9

Sephiroth floated ten feet off the surface of a pond, a waterfall crashing down on the rocks behind him. He seemed to bob up and down in the air ever so slightly, his hands and feet dangling as he allowed his mind to wander. He focused on the image of Rinoa in his mind, burning it into memory. He remembered the power she had demonstrated. The only other entity he could think of that possesed such incredible innate magical powers was Jenova, and by extension, himself.

"I'll have to deal with her." Sephiroth mused aloud. But first, he had important buisness to attend. Slowly, he raised his hands. Unseen and unheard, the virus moved into the air. The breeze carried it through the air, the stream rushed it through the water. It was silent, it was swift, it was deadly. And it was spreading.

–

Rinoa's eyes slowly fluttered open and she found herself sitting in a chair in the infirmary with a worried Squall standing in front of her.

"Thank Hyne your awake." Squall breathed a sigh of relief.

Rinoa shook her head to clear the fog and asked "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes." Squall assured her. She noticed they were alone in one of the medical rooms.

"How is Cloud?" She hoped she had been succesful, but she had passed out before she could say for sure.

Squall frowned. "He seems to be recovering, for now. But I'm more worried about you, how do you feel?"

"I'm fine, honestly." She told him. An image flashed through her mind. Silver hair, a piercing gaze. "I think I saw him." She began tentatively.

Squall remembered the name Cloud had said. "Sephiroth?" She nodded in the affirmitive. "What did he look like?" Squall said.

She forced the image into focus. "He had long silver hair, and his eyes were feline, and green. I think he was dressed in black, but it was hard to tell. I only saw him for a second."

Worry etched Squall's face. "Did he see you?"

Rinoa opened her mouth, then shut it. Had he? A shiver coursed through her spine. "I'm not sure." She said. Squall felt his concern deepening. If this Sephiroth knew what Rinoa looked like, he could try to come after her. She had stopped whatever he had been doing with Cloud after all.

"I want you to listen to me." He began. "I don't want you leaving Garden for any reason, and I want you to have an escort with you at all times. Do you understand?"

Rinoa frowned. "I can take care of myself Squall, I'm a sorceress you know."

"Do you understand?" Squall repeated more forcefully.

Rinoa knew he would not back down on this, and she had to admit she wasn't particularly open to the idea of meeting Sephiroth face to face. Especially not by herself.

"Alright, I understand." She managed a small smile.

Squall nodded as he rose to his full height and said "I have to attend a meeting now. I'll talk to you later."

Without waiting for a response he left the room. As he passed Kadowaki he said "Have Jenny and Robby escort Cloud to my office once he is sufficiently recovered."

–

Squall sat down in his office chair and looked at the large monitor upon which President Caraway could be seen. Behind Squall and to his sides were Quistis and Xu in their formal uniforms.

"You're late." Caraway informed him plainly.

"My apologies, a situation came up that I was required to deal with. It has been resolved now." Squall told him.

"I see." Caraway narrowed his eyes slightly. "Now that you are here, lets get to the buisness at hand."

"Very well." Squall agreed.

"As you know, Timber has begun voilent resistance in the past couple of days." Caraway began. "This matter is most distressing, but I was even more troubled to learn that some of your most well known SeeD operatives were spotted in the city at the time. One of my men saw them. I would be curious to know why?" Caraway explained.

Squall winced internally, but kept his outward appearance calm as he replied "Some of my people were in Timber. However, they were there solely to observe the situation and keep me posted."

"Yet according to these reports they were quick to enter the fray once the battle started." Caraway shot back.

"They were under orders to exit the city, and were only authorized to defend themselves with non-lethal force." Squall replied.

Caraway laced his fingers together as he leaned forward ever so slightly. "In all the confusion it would be impossible to tell the source of every casualty, I cannot know for sure your people didn't kill anyone."

"You can't say for sure that they did either." Squall pointed out.

Caraway cast his eyes towards Quistis. "You were in charge of the mission, correct?"

"I was." Quistis confirmed.

"Did your team use lethal force?"

"None."

Caraway frowned. "What of the fighter pilot who was killed when you shot down our planes?"

Quistis could not quite avoid a wince before she responded with "We were fired upon first, and taking damage. We had no choice."

"You could not simply have hailed the pilots and explained your presence?" Caraway quirked an eyebrow.

Quistis had no comeback. Luckily Xu was there to pick things up. "The team was under extremely stressful circumstances, Mr. President. Mistakes were made, on both sides."

Caraway leaned back as he returned his attention to Squall, and the young man got the disticnt impressiont hat Caraway had saved his worst for last. "I see. You are aware no doubt that Galbadia Garden had been deployed to counter the resistance?"

"Of course." Squall replied.

"By now I'm sure you know that it did not succeed." Caraway went on. Squall remained silent. He thought he saw where this is going. "Somebody sabotaged the operation, destroying our tanks and killing many troops."

"I assure you none of my people were aboard Galbadia Garden." Squall said.

"There was a survivor of the attack, a witness. He saw the man who did it." Caraway continued, almost seeming to ignore Squall.

"Whoever it was, it was not one of my people." Squall said more forcefully.

"Is that so?" Caraway asked coldly. "The man appearantly had long silver hair and a black cape, and fought with a sword." Squall couldn't quite supress the surprised expresion that came to his face, or the gasp. Caraway nodded slightly, as if reaching a conclusion.

Xu spoke. "We don't have anybody by that description."

"Of course not." Caraway scoffed.

"Mister President," Squall began, but Caraway cut him off.

"Frankly, Commander Leonhart, the evidence against you is substantial, and you clearly recognize the description I gave. I am giving you forty-eight hours to either prove that you are innocent, or disband SeeD. If I have neither, then we shall remove the threat you pose by force."

"I assure you," Squall tried again, and again Caraway cut him off.

"I do not require your assurances Leonhart. I require proof. And don't think I will hesitate because my daughter is in Balamb either, I won't let that effect my duty. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Squall growled.

"Forty-eight hours." Caraway repeated, and then he cut the transmission.

For a moment a heavy weight hung over the room. Squall didn't say anything, he simply slumped into his chair, and resisted the urge to scream his frustration.

"Damn." Xu breathed after a moment.

"What do we do?" Quistis asked.

Squall frowned as his thoughts turned to Cloud, and this Sephiroth, who seemed to be showing up everywhere except where Squall could see him. Cloud and Sephiroth likely knew each other, Squall thought, so it was logical to assume Cloud might just be able to help locate the man.

Without anwsering Quistis, Squall pressed the button to activate a channel to the Infirmary. "Kadowaki, I don't care what sort of condition Cloud is in, I want him awake in fifteen minutes."

"Squall, I can't do that. Who knows what sort of effect it could have on him." Kadowaki's vocie replied, sounding a little surprised.

"I don't care, this is an order!" Squall growled. "I'm coming down there, and he'd better be up and ready to talk by the time I arrive." Squall commanded, then rose from his chair, and moved towards the elevator.

"Squall! Whats going on?" Quisits asked.

"I don't know yet." The commander replied. "But I'm going to find out."

–

The virus worked quickly. The nomally timid wildlife had already seemed to mutate, growing malignent tumors all over their bodies, and attacking with the mindless ferocity of a rabid dog. Pack animals tore apart their herds, and creatures that travelled alone sought each other out. The fish that normally travelled the streams floated belly up to the surface as the water turned toxic. In the center of it all, Sephiroth hovered. He was smiling.

His senses stretch to encompass the whole forest, and when the group of hunters entered the forest laughing merrily among themselves, Sephiroth was smiling. As the hunters encountered the first of the rabid beasts and were fiercely attacked, he was smiling. When the survivors ran desperately from the forest, he was smiling. Now all he had to do was wait.


	10. Chapter 10

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:This chapter turned out longer than I expected, and a lot more grim than I expected as well. Not really anything else to say other than please enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 10

Cloud woke up to see the apologetic face of Doctor Kadowaki looking down at him. He turned his head, and winced at the lances of pain that shot through his body.

"Take it easy, you were in bad shape. I need to run a quick test, is that alright?" Kadowaki asked.

"Sure." Cloud responded as the pain faded. He stretched his limbs a bit. They were a bit sore, but nothing to bad.

Kadowaki cast a Scan spell, then after a moment of looking confused, she cast another. "That can't be right, according to these spells you're already mostly healed."

"I've always been a fast healer." Cloud shrugged.

"Still, try not to push it for the next few days." Kadowaki said, then added "You might want to get ready. Squall is on his way to speak to you."

Cloud sighed as he allowed his mind to replay those agony filled moments when Sephiroth had poisoned him. He knew Sephiroth was responsible. Dread filled him at the prospect that even here in this unfamiliar world he was still uanble to escape that man.

"About what happened earlier?" Cloud guessed.

"I don't know, but its a safe bet." Kadowaki said.

Squall chose that moment to walk in. His face held a carefully neutral expression, but it was impossible to miss the anger in his eyes.

He glanced briefly at Kadowaki. "I would like to speak to him alone."

Kadowaki sighed. "Fine, but don't push to hard." That said, she departed from the room leaving the two of them alone.

Squall took a seat in the chair beside the bed as Cloud met his gaze. Finally he said "Tell me about Sephiroth."

Cloud was silent for several moments. He had expected this conversation. He remembered yelling that name.

"Its a personal story." Cloud told him.

"Not anymore." Squall informed him coldly.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Squall seemed to consider his response, as if not sure how much he should reveal to Cloud. "At the moment, the government of Galbadia believes Sephiroth is in league with Balamb, and responsible for sabetouging their attempted counter-attack on Timber, a smaller nation that was subjegated by Galbadia years ago, and has recently entered into a state of rebellion. If we can't prove that Sephiroth is not working with us inside of forty-eight hours, Galbadia will declare war on Balamb Garden."

"I see." Cloud said.

"I need to know everything I can about Sephiroth if I'm going to catch him." Squall insisted.

"You won't be able to catch Sephiroth." Cloud told him simply.

"Why not?" Squall asked.

Cloud remembered words Sephiroth had once spoken to him, and relayed them "To change ones voice, looks, and words is the power of Jenova."

Squall frowned. "Jenova?"

"Jenova was a calamity that struck my world thousands of years ago. She was more or less a virus, only on a planetary scale. Sephiroth is, in a sense, her son. She didn't give birth to him, but he received her cells when in the womb, and has inherited her abilities." Cloud explained.

"The cells were injected into him when he was in the womb? So he was a genetic experiment of some kind?" Squall asked.

"Yes." Cloud said shortly. "As I said he can change his form at will. You won't see him unless he wants you to."

"There has to be a way." Squall insisted. "You have had conflict with him in the past right? What did you do?"

"I played right into his hands, and gave him exactly what he needed to win." Cloud replied simply.

Squall tried to keep his frustration in check "He has to have some weakness."

Cloud considered that for a moment. There was one weakness that Sephiroth had. "His pride. He views himself as being above other lifeforms. He doesn't consider anyone to be a threat to him."

Squall tried to think how they might be able to use that against Sephiroth. "If he knew where to find Rinoa, would he come after her for stopping him?"

"Probably." Cloud decided after a moments thought.

Squall stood from his chair. "Robby and Jenny are waiting to take you back to your room so you can get some rest."

Squall turned to leave, but Cloud spoke "I'll do my best to help you, but I'll need my sword back."

Squall glanced over his shoulder. "I'll see what I can do."

Cloud waited a moment, before moving out to the hall where Jenny and Robby were waiting.

"Hey man, you alright?" Robby asked.

"You scared the crap out of us." Jenny added.

"I'm fine now." Cloud said running a hand through his hair. "Lets go."

"Sure thing." Robby said, then added "But do you want to stop and get something to eat first." Cloud decided that he did.

–

Three of the original eight members of the hunting party make it back to Balamb. One was mauled badly and is rushed to the hospital. Another has a bite wound on his arm that he keeps hidden. The last was unharmed. The two decide to go to the coffee house to cool down. The unharmed man calls his wife to tell her he is ok, and that he will be home in a bit. The other isn't married, and his parents are in Dollet on vacation. Soon, the man with the wound begins to feel dizzy. His vision blurs. A voice whispers cruel things in his ears, claws at the inside of his skull. His friend notices something wrong, asks if he's ok. But the wounded man doesn't see his friend before him, he sees an enemy.

KILLKILLKILL demands the voice. His hunting rifle falls unnoticed to the floor as he jumps over the table and attacks the other, clawing and biting and shrieking like an animal. The other patrons move to stop him. He keeps clawing and biting until he is eventually killed by a blow to the head. His friend is dead already.

In the hospital, the mauled man can't stop coughing. Pain builds in his right arm. The doctors are horrified as it mutates into a tentacle with a fierce barb at the end. It snakes out and slices a surgeon in two. The doctors run as the man rises up with unnatural strength. The police are called. By the time they arrive four people are dead, and six more wounded. KILLKILLKILL goes the voice, and so the man does until several rounds form the police bring him down.

The people being questioned by the police at the coffee shop start to feel strange, as do patients and doctors alike in the hospital. Random people in the street who had only passing contact feel an itch in the back of their skull. A family boards the train heading out of town, they feel a strange crawling sensation under their skin. A man rides on the ferry to Dollet on a buisness trip. His throat is scratchy, and its getting hard to breathe.

The virus spreads.

–

Squall looked up at Zell, Selphie, Irvine, and Quistis. He had called all of them to his office. They had saved the world together, and he knew that they were the most elite team on the planet.

"Why are ya callin' us up here at this time of night man!?" Zell complained.

"Yeah, I need some beauty sleep!" Selphie whined.

"You don't need beauty sleep, you look sexy all the time." Irvine assured her.

"There is a difference between sexy and beauty." Selphie informed him.

Hoping to cut in before he lost all control of the conversation Squall said "As interesting as this conversation is, there is an important reason I called you here."

Seeing that he had their attention he said "Quistis already knows some of it. Recently, a man named Cloud appeared inside Garden. When he awoke he claimed to be from another world. He seems harmless enough. However, it seems another man, by the name of Sephiroth has followed him here."

"Wait, he's claiming to be from another world!? I don't buy that!" Zell declared.

"Whether its true or not, we need to find this Sephiroth soon. He's been causing trouble for Galbadia." Squall replied.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Selphie asked.

"It might be, except that Galbadia thinks he's in leage with us. If we can't prove otherwise in forty-eight hours, we will be at war." Squall gave that a moment to sink in, then passed out manila folders to each of them. "This contains all the information on this matter we have so far, memorize it."

Talking amongst themselves, they left the office.

–

After a decent meal, Cloud returned to his room, and was immensely pleased to find the Buster Sword resting against the wall. He picked up slowly, almost reverently, viewing it as one might view an old friend. He checked it for materia. His old materia was still there, but it didn't seem to hold any magic. Not surprising since he was in another world. The materia probably couldn't connect with the lifestream anymore. With a regretful sigh, he tossed the orbs aside.

"Oh well, I'll just have to rely on my own abilities." He muttered, then gave a couple of practice swings with the sword. It felt familiar, and comfortable. Cloud also noticed that the books he had been intending to check out were stacked on his desk.

"Might as well read up on my history." He took a seat at the desk, leaning the Buster Sword against the side of the desk, and started reading. First he memorized the planets geography, and the locations and names of major cities. Then he began reading up on recent history, roughly the last twenty years or so. It was almost three in the morning when he dozed off.

–

Cloud soon became aware of his surroundings. To his surprise he was not at his desk. He stood in the middle of a swirling green light. He glanced around as the air seemed to fluctuate.

"I know this place." He said. There was a sudden surge of light, like a camera flash, and he was standing in the town square of Nibelheim. It appeared to be night.

"Cloud." A voice spoke from behind him. He whirled to find Sephiroth standing at the top of the stairs that led towards the Shinra Mansion.

"Sephiroth!" He shouted as he reached for his sword. It wasn't there.

Sephiroth smiled as he observed the blond. "Ha Ha Ha.....You seem to be missing something."

Cloud growled. "What do you want!?"

A chuckle. "What I want? I want you to get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness."

"Beg for your forgiveness!?" Cloud growled in a rage. "After all you've done you want me to beg for your forgiveness!?"

Sephiroth laughed, and with a sudden flash they stood in the City of the Ancients, on the very alter where Aerith had been killed.

"You think the life of this girl mattered?" He asked with amusement as an image of Aerith appeared, kneeling on the platform.

Cloud felt his knees go weak as he saw her, but kept his glare on Sephiroth. "Of course!"

"Why?" Sephiroth asked. "She was an inferior being."

"She was a human being, and the last Cetra, and my friend. Damnit I loved her!" Cloud growled.

"You are a puppet, Cloud. You cannot feel love." Sephiroth told him.

"Shut up!" Cloud growled. Sephiroth chuckled as once again the scenery changed. Nibelheim was burning. Cloud felt the heat, and the old pain in his heart.

Sephiroth stood in the spot where he had years ago just before walking into the fire, looking calmly down at Cloud.

"Why do you continue to deny your nature?" Sephiroth asked. Images of Cloud's companions flashed on all sides. "You are alone in this world. Nobody here understands you, or knows you. Except me."

"Its because of you my friends aren't with me." Cloud spat back with a snarl. An incredible sadness filled his heat as he spoke. "Its becase of you that I could never speak with Aerith again, or hold Tifa, or argue with Barret. Share a beer with Cid. Put up with Yuffie, or talk with Nanki, or glare at Cait Sith, or just stand around with Vincent. Its because of you I don't have a home anymore, or my mother. I will never forgive that, and I will never be your puppet!"

Sephiroth tilted his head slightly and shrugged. "They mean so much to you?" There was a flash. Tifa stood behind Cloud. "I could give them to you." She whispered.

Cloud whirled and suddenly it was Aerith there. "You could enjoy everything you missed."

Cloud turned back towards Sephiroth. "How dare you!"

Yuffie was at his side "Hey Cloud! See any cool materia?"

"Stop it!" Cloud growled, pressing his hands to his ears.

Another flash. Cloud stood in his house. His mother was there. "Oh, hello Cloud." She said. "Its been forever since I saw you! How are you!?"

"Enough!" Cloud fell to his knees.

"Cloud, are you ok?" His mother asked.

"Please, leave me alone." He said weakly.

"Its alright. Here, why don't you sit down for awhile." She helped him into a chair. He tried to resist Sephiroth's temptations, but this was so real! It felt so nice. How could he turn away from this? He could have his family, and his friends. All he needed to do was help Sephiroth, and was that really so bad? He was destined to rule the pla-

"Get out of my head!" Cloud roared as he surged to his feet. He was in the blazing Nibelheim again.

Sephiroth frowned at him. "You still deny who you are?"

Cloud growled. "I don't know a whole lot about the people of this world, and I don't really know them. But anyones better than you!"

Sephiroth chuckled. "What will you do when those people are gone?"

"They won't be gone." Cloud said defiantly.

"How ignorant." Sephiroth scoffed. "The cycle has already started." Before Cloud could say anything else the Masamune appeared in Sephiroth's hand and the Silver Soldier flew across the intervening distance to fast for Cloud to react. Just as the Masamune made contact with his chest, he awoke to find himself slumped on his desk. There was a moment of silence as he leaned back, gasping for air and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Just a dream." He said, then "No, not a dream. A vision."

What did he mean by'The Cycle'? Cloud wondered. He thought about it for a moment, and suddenly his eyes widened with alarm and he sprang to his feet.

He raced to the door where Jeny was standing guard. "I need to speak with Squall, now!"


	11. Chapter 11

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:Wow, for some reason I just could not write this chapter. It just would not come out. I finally managed it, though I think this chapter is probably weaker than previous chapter. Either way I hope you all enjoy it, and I'll try to take less time with my next update.

* * *

Chapter 11

The mutations are minor at first. A hand becomes a pincer. A foot becomes a talon. At first. In the hours following the initial breakout, more unusual mutations occur. Some are no longer recognizable as having once been human. A doctor in the Balamb Hospital turns into a mass of writhing tentacles with barbed tips, spewing blinding poison everywhere and devouring those who are not mutated.

Another oddity occurs before long. These creatures no longer fight each other. As the virus begins to coordinate itself, the creatures begin to act as a group, slaughtering only those who seem to be unaffected by the virus.

–

Squall frowned as the elevator leading into his office slid open to reveal Cloud, who had a grim look on his face. Squall had been informed that Cloud wanted to see him, and had decided to allow the visit in the hopes that Cloud might have an idea on how to catch Sephiroth.

"May I help you?" Squall asked in a deadpan.

"I think I know what Sephiroth is planning." Cloud replied.

"I see." Squall said. "And what is that?"

"On my world, when Jenova first arrived she brought the Cetra, an ancient group of nomads who could speak with the planet, to the brink of extinction with a virus." Cloud explained.

Squall frowned at the word virus. "What sort of virus?"

"I'm not sure, I've never witnessed it first hand. But as I understand it the virus drives its hosts mad, and can turn them into monsters." Cloud looked at Squall, waiting for the weight of his words to sink in.

Squall stood from his desk, and could not resist the urge to begin pacing. After a moment he paused and looked at Cloud. "How do you know this is what he's planning?"

"He spoke to me." Cloud said.

"Telepathicly?" Squall ventured. When Cloud nodded Squall asked "What exactly did he say?"

Cloud frowned. "He said that the cycle had already begun."

"What makes you think he meant this virus? Is he even capable of using it?" Squall pressed.

"I've never seen him use it, but he did gain all of Jenova's other abilities. I see no reason to believe he doesn't have that one as well. I can't think of anything else he might have been reffering to when he said cycle." Cloud explained.

Squall considered this for a moment. On the one hand, the threat of a virus like Cloud had described was very serious. On the other hand, Squall was not entirely sure whether to trust Cloud's assesement when the blond wasn't even sure himself.

The matter was decided for him when the intercom buzzed. A moment later Xu's voice came from the

speakers. "Squall, somethings going on in Balamb."

Squall felt a sinking feeling as he asked "Can you elaborate?"

"I don't know, we were contacted a few moments ago by the Chief of Police. There were sounds of gunfire. Before the situation could be explained we lost contact." Came the reply. Squall looked to Cloud slowly.

Speaking to Xu, he said "Get my team ready.

That said, Squall made his way to a display case on the wall which contained an odd combination between a gun and a sword. Cloud observed it, and guessed that it would be hard to use such a weapon effectively.

Having retrieved the weapon, Squall said "Come with me."

–

Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Quistis, and Rinoa were all assembled in the garage awaiting Squall.

"Man, whats going on? I barely got an hour of sleep." Selphia said, trying to rub the tiredness from her eyes.

"Ya think thats bad? I didn't get any." Zell moaned.

Quistis let out a sigh as she adjusted her gear and spoke "I don't know much, but Xu says it has something to do with Balamb. It seems we lost contact before we could get more info than that though."

"I don't like going into these things blind." Irvine said.

"Who does?" Quistis replied.

"Come on guys, it can't be worse than Ultimecia!" Selphie added, looking optimistic.

"Thats true, but its still hard to prepare when you don't know what you're preparing for." Irvine added.

"Then we should just be ready for anything." Rinoa added with a shrug. There were general nods of agreement to this statement. It was at this point that Squall entered walked into the garage, with Cloud Strife walking slightly behind and to one side.

Irvine's eyes widened slightly as he saw the size of the sword on Cloud's back, and Zell couldn't help but exclaim "How the hell do you carry that?"

Cloud looked over his shoulder at his blade for a second before shrugging. "Practice."

"Everyone, this is Cloud. Cloud, this is Irvine, Selphie, Quistis, and Zell." Squall pointed to each of them in turn, and there was a round of handshakes and greetings while Squall frowned at Rinoa.

"Don't try to tell me I'm not going." Rinoa said to him with a wag of her finger. Squall sighed, but did not bother to argue. He would just be wasting time, which was something they were horribly short on at the moment. He did a mental check of the time, and figured they had thirty-four hours left.

"We believe its possible whatever is happening in Balamb is being caused by Sephiroth, a man Cloud has past experience with. As such, he will be joining us. The exact nature of the threat is unknown, so keep your guard up." Squall informed them.

The group soon piled into the large truck waiting tot ake them to their destination, and set off.


	12. Chapter 12

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:Well this is a bit longer than I was expecting. Still, I think it came out way better than the last chapter. Of course as usual I hope you all enjoy it.

* * *

Chapter 12

"We'll be arriving in Balamb in fifteen minutes." The driver spoke, and Squall nodded his understanding.

He double-checked his weapon to make sure it was ready. Aside from training he had not used this weapon once since Ultimecia. The chambers were all loaded, and seemed in good condition. The trigger didn't appear to be stuck, or to loose.

Satisfied that his weapon would not fail him, he looked between his various companions. He was glad to have Irvine and Selphie along. The two worked together remarkably well, between Irvine' sharpshooting and Selphie's skill with para-magic the two could best almost any monster.

Then there was Quistis. She could keep her cool in almost any situation, and had good leadership skills, even if she did let her emotions get the better of her from time to time. If Squall ever stepped down, he was confident that Quistis would be the ideal person to replace him.

He couldn't help a slight scowl when his eyes turned to Rinoa. He knew she was powerful. Her abilities as a sorceress meant that in terms of magical ability she was by far the most powerful person in SeeD, maybe the world. But he still didn't want her on this mission. It would be extremely dangerous he knew, any mission that involved a lack of information generally was. The only reason he hadn't argued the point was because he knew she wouldn't back down, and it would make her angry which would make teamwork that much harder.

Deciding it was best to think of something else, Squall now turned his attention to Cloud. What did he know about this blond swordsman? He seemed to carry a sense of guilt, and was very serious. What troubled Squall was the mans connection with Sephiroth. He hadn't said what caused it, and Squall hadn't asked, yet. He wondered now if such information could be important. He decided to find out.

"Cloud." Squall said.

"Hm?" Cloud looked at Squall.

"We have a few minutes until we arrive, why don't you tell us how you know Sephiroth." Squall invited.

Cloud blinked in suprise, then leaned back as his face took on a stony expression. "In my world, Sephiroth was considered a hero. He was known as the strongest SOLDIER."

"SOLDIER?" Selphie asked.

"It was an elite military organization. Anyway, as a child I looked up to Sephiroth as sort of an idol. I joined the army in the hopes of being like him. One day we were sent to my hometown of Nibelheim along with another SOLDIER named Zack, who was a friend. During the mission Sephiroth learned that he was created with an experiment and went insane, burning the town. Zack tried to stop him, but failed. I managed to take Sephiroth from behind and he fell into a pit." Cloud explained.

"I assume Sephiroth survived." Rinoa said.

Cloud nodded. "Thats right. Some time later Zack died and I inherited his weapon." Cloud gestured to the Buster Sword on his back. "Five years later Sephiroth returned, intent on obtaining godhood. My friends and I tried to stop him, and confonted him. During the battle a massive spell was released form inside the planet, and as near as I can tell thats what brought Sephiroth and myself from our own world, to yours."

The others began muttering amongst themselves, once they were satisfied that Cloud had finished. But Squall strongly suspected the blond was not being entirely honest. He didn't doubt the blonds words, but he suspected he was leaving something out. Based on the look she had, Quistis had reached a similar conclusion. Squall met her gaze, and the two silently agreed that it would be best to worry about it later.

A moment of silence passed before the car began to slow, and the driver spoke. "Holy shit."

Squall rose to his feet and moved forward to look through the windshield. Outside there was blood splattered everywhere, and a couple of badly torn corpses. A man whose face had become severely elongated, and his hands turned into like whiplike appendages was trying to force its way through the garage door of the car-rental shop. Some mechanics on the other hand were trying to keep the creature out by forcing the door closed. One of the whip-like arms lashed out, and Squall saw a spray of blood.

Cloud cast a glance past Squall's shoulder, saw the same thing, and moved like a lightning bolt to the car door and sprang out otno the street, the Buster Sword almost seemed to materialize in his hand.

"Hey!" The blond shouted, gaining the creatures attention. It whirled and charged towards him with incredible speed, arms whirling into a deadly frenzy. Cloud braced himself, and met the things charge, swinging his sword down diagonally. The creatures arms whipped around entangling the blade and nearly wrenching it out of Cloud's hand, while the tips lashed out at Cloud's head so fast that he was barely able to duck in time.

With a snarl, Cloud slammed his foot into the former humans stomache knocking it off balance, then shoved forward with his blade impaling it through the chest. Black goo and rotten sludge gushed form the wound, but despite the damage the creature was still alive. One of its arms wrapped around Cloud's neck and lifted him up while the other flicked out in an effort to slice into Cloud's stomache. Seeing the incoming attack, Cloud brought his sword around to bat the limb aside.

By this point the others had all exited the vehicle, weapons in hand. Irvine raised his gun, and fired. The bullet tore through the arm that held Cloud up, and the creature dropped Cloud to the ground as its arm dangled limply, and a pained shriek emerged from its throat.

No sooner did the blonds feet hit the ground than he pivoted, bringing the flat of his blade crashing into the creatures head so hard that it exploded into a spray of gore. The creature stumbled for a minute, then fell dead. A moment of silence came, and everyone was able to hear the similar shrieks and roars coming from deeper in the city, in addition to human screams and the occasional gunshot.

Irvine quickly jogged over to the grage door and glanced under it. Two men in mehanics uniforms were attending to their wounded comrade, whose leg had been sliced off at the knee.

"Shit!" One of them exclained as blood gushed everywhere.

"You hang in there Jerry!" The other growled as he cast a glance around for something to stop the bleeding with.

"Let me help." Rinoa said as she too came to the door along with Squall. The others kept a look out for any more creatures.

The two men looked at them sharply, terror and anger in their eyes. "Stay back!" The first shouted, looking like he was ready for a fight.

However, the second seemed to recognize Squall, who had personally rented cars here on one or two occasions.

"No Frank, its fine. We can trust these guys and they can help." The second said. Squall noted his nametag which identified him as Tom. Tom was an older man with a scraggly beard and a grizzled look to him. Frank was younger with a five o'clock shadow and blue eyes, maybe in his thirties. Jerry had brown hair and green eyes, and generally was a very unassuming looking person, or he would've been if not for the grievous wound he had.

"Tom, whats going on here?" Squall asked while Rinoa set to work on Jerry, using her magic to mend the wound.

Cloud moved close enough to listen in as the old mechanic let out a weary sigh. "Fuck if I know man. Few hours ago everything was normal. Had some customers, tourists visitng from Dollet, rented a nice blue car. Then people started acting strange, had one dude start rambling like a lunatic on the street. Heard somebody went nuts at the Coffee House and killed somebody. Before you know it, people are turning into monsters and killing everything around them. I think there might be survivors down at the harbor, and maybe the train station. More gunfire coming from those directions than anywhere else anyway."

Squall glanced briefly at Cloud, who offered a slight nod. It was Jenova's virus, any doubt the blond had had was gone, and Squall felt a cold knot form in his stomache. Would he and his friends be infected? A shiver ran down his spine, but he ignored it for the time being. He couldn't let himself worry about such things now. He needed to focus on more immediate problems.

Squall walked out of the garage and withdrew his cell, quickly selecting Xu's number. A moment passed before she picked up. "Xu here."

"Xu, I'm placing you in command of Garden. I want you to place Balamb under quarantine immediately, and all trains or ferries that may have left Balamb are to be recalled immediately." Squall allowed no emotion into his voice as he spoke, Cloud noted.

"Why?" Xu asked, sounding startled.

"We have good reason to believe that an exceedingly dangerous virus has been recently released in the town. It seems to be turning people into monsters." Squall explained.

"I see. I'll get on it right away." Xu replied.

"Keep me posted." Squall said.

"Likewise." Came the response, and then Squall hung up.

"Yo man, whats goin' on?" Zell asked as Squall looked back to the group.

"Yeah, whats with the quarantine?" Irvine asked.

"Its the Jenova virus." Cloud said before Squall could anwser. Seeing everyones attention shoot to him in an isntant, Cloud ran a hand through his hair and explained "It drives people mad and turns them into monsters. Sephiroth never used it in my world, but he inherited many of Jenova's other abilities after Nibelheim so I see no reason why he couldn't."

"And whats going on in Balamb closely enough matches the symptoms Cloud just named, that I am unwilling to take any chances. None of us are to leave Balamb until we can either confirm that this is not the result of the virus, or until we can find a way to cure it."

There was a moment of silence before Rinoa moved out of the garage, and the mechanics promptly closed the door.

"Jerry should live." She said.

"Ok then, its time to move out." Squall began. "We'll split into two groups. Myself, Rinoa, and Zell. The other group will consist of Quistis, who will be in charge, Irvine, Selphie, and Cloud." Squall waited a moment for everyone to move into their assigned groups. "My group will move towards the train station and see what we can find out. Quistis, take your group down to the harbor."

"Understood." Quistis said with a nod.

"Hey, Squall?" Zell asked, sounding concerned. Squall glanced at him. "I need to check on my family man. I gotta make sure ma is ok."

"Your house is on our way, we can check it on the way." Squall told him.

"Thanks man, means a lot." Zell replied. Squall nodded, and the two groups parted ways.

–

Cloud payed close attention to his surroundings as he walked, on guard against the possibility of an ambush. But he was also paying attention to the town itself. The architect, the layout. The town was different from anywhere he had been in his own world, but he suspected it would have been a comfortable and quiet place if not for the nightmare Sephiroth had brought upon it.

"So Cloud, you got a lot of combat experience?" Irvine asked.

"Yeah." The blond replied.

Silence resumed as the group focused on their surroundings. An obscuring fog was rolling in from the water. Cloud slowly began to notice an itch in the back of his mind. As he focused on it, it grew stronger, and his hand tightened on his sword.

"They're coming." He whispered. This statement was punctuated by a loud roar.

–

Squall pulled his gunblade out of his latest attacker. The thing had legs that had swollen up to three times their former size, and one arm resembled a giant lobster pincher. This was the third creature they had encountered. Squall had expected to run into a lot more than this, but aside from the three they had killed, and the occasional distant shriek, the only sign of trouble was the gore splattered across the streets. Very little of the corpses could be recognized as having once been human.

"Holy shit." Zell muttered, with none of his usual energy. Squall could easily understand his shock. Knowing that Zell's adoptive family lived here, Squall couldn't even begin to guess how the martial artist felt.

They turned down the street which had Zell's house. There was less gore here. Zell immediately shot off towards his house. Squall moved behind him, gunblade raised. A shriek came from the top of one of the houses, and Zell looked up in time to see a twisted mishapen humanoid leap down at him. He threw his arms up in a lightning quick defense, but the force of the impact slammed him to the ground and he felt a horrible pain in his side.

"Zell!" Rinoa cried, while Squall quickly took in the things appearance. It had once been a woman, and had seemingly grown an extra set of arms from just under the rib cage. They both ended in hooked blade like things, one of which had hooked into Zell's side. Only the young mans skill and strength was keeping the thing from tearing him in half.

The gunblade specialist charged forward and swung his weapon cleaving the arm that was cutting Zell off, then as the creature shrieked in agony he plunged his blade into its chest. It seemed unfazed as its human arms grabbed him with inhuman strength, and hurled him twenty feet through the air where he landed in a hard roll which carried him back to his feet.

The creature moved towards him, but Zell used the distraction to roll sideways, bringing his foot around in a round-house kick that slammed into the things side with tremendous force throwing it to the side. Rinoa's hands shot out and the creature was engulfed in a roar of fire. Before anyone could think of feeling relieved, no less than a dozen other similiarly misformed creatures emerged from the alleys.

Squall lifted his weapon in preperation.

–

Cloud brought his sword around cleaving another creature in half before casting a glance at his companions. Irvine's main gun had run out of ammo a while back, and the man had pulled out a pair of uzi's and was pouring fire into the horde. It was scary. One second they had had near total silence, the next they were surrounded by dozens of the things.

While Cloud and Irvine engaged with their weapons, Selphie and Quistis poured spells into the combat, burning many of the creatures to a crisp. But some seemed to shrug off the magic as little more than a nuisance. Cloud grimaced as he threw himself back into the fray. A dozen minor wounds covered him, and the pain was getting really bad.

"Theres to many of them!" Irvine shouted as he dropped the guns and resorted to throwing fireballs into the nearest monsters. Cloud found he agreed with that assesement. It seemed like every single mosnter in the town was trying to kill them, then he realized something that he should have noticed sooner. Most of the creatures were coming at him specificly, and the ones that didn't attack only failed to do so because they were killed before they reached him. Sephiroth must be directing them, Cloud thought. His eyes narrowed as he realized what he needed to do.

"Guys, they're coming for me!" Cloud shouted as he swung his sword in wide arcs, trying to clear a path for himself.

"What!?" Quistis cried.

"I'm gonna lead them off, I'll meet up with you later!" Cloud shouted back, then sprang over the enarest monsters and ran. Just as he had expected, almost all of the mosnters turned and chased after him.

–

Squall frowned as his gunblade was deflected off of a claw. His preformance was slipping. He knew why, he just couldn't bring himself to use full force against the former people of Balamb. But he had to, he thought as the creatures other claw left a gash on his arm.

Rinoa didn't hesitate, though her face was grim. Blasts of arcane power were quickly wiping out all of the creatures. Zell however was even worse off than Squall. Having lived in Balamb for several years, Zell knew many of these people by their first names. Still, he thought as he finally cut down his opponent, they were almost done with this fight. Rinoa fried the last of the enemies.

Zell looked around, breathing hard. "This is all kinds of messed up man!" He growled, then looking at one of the fallen enemies he said "That was Mr Gibson, he ran the gift shop on the pier."

Squall sighed as he raised a hand to his forehead and looked around. These had been people such a short time ago, now there was nothing left of their humanity.

Rinoa rested her hand on Zell's shoulder. "Hey, lets go check on your family, all right?"

Zell looked up. "Yeah, lets go!" He dashed down the street, not caring at all about his injuries as he reached his Ma's house and threw open the door, vanishing into the interior.

"Ma!" He shouted running from the living room and into the kitchen. No trace. "Ma!" he shouted again, dashing upstairs. By the time Squall and Rinoa entered the house, Zell was walking slowly down the stairs.

"She ain't here." He muttered as he fell into a chair.

"She could still be alive." Squall tried to be supportive.

"Yeah, she definetely is. Ma's tough, wouldn't let a virus stop her. No monster could get her either." Zell said. He desperately clung to that belief, he needed it.

Squall allowed him a moment while Rinoa quietly healed their wounds. Finally he said "We need to keep moving. Your mother could be among those at the train station.

"Alright." Zell said as he sprang to his feet. Squall led the way back outside. As soon as he cleared the door his danger senses screamed a warning. Before he could say anything to his friends a shockwave of telekenetic energy lifted them off the ground and sent them flying through the air.

Squall saw a man with long silver hair and a black cape seem to materialize on the ground between them a second before his head struck the ground, and everything went black.


	13. Chapter 13

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

**AN:Here we have another action based chapter. Really not a whole lot to say other than I hope you all enjoy the read. As usual any feedback is welcome. **

* * *

Chapter 13

Cloud dashed around a corner and ducked as a flying creature swooped in attempting to slice into his head with its talons. The blond let out a curse as he continued to run. He couldn't keep this up much longer. His muscles felt like they were on fire, and he was completely soaked in sweat. But he couldn't turn and fight, there were far to many creatures for him to beat.

One four legged beast jogged up beside him and turned its maw towards him, snarling as it prepared to strike. Cloud struck first, swinging his sword down ontop the things neck, severing its head from the body. Cloud rounded another corner, and purely on instinct he sprang to the right.

A barrage of gunfire tore through the spot he'd been a moment before and hit the advancing horde head on. Cloud quickly rolled to his feet, briefly glancing at the source of the gunfire. It was coming from the windows of a nearby convineint store, and based on the sounds Cloud guessed there were at least five shooters.

Cloud whirled to the oncoming monsters which were less than a dozen yards form him, then lifted his blade onto his shoulder, both hands on the hilt. His eyes briefly scanned the horde for the densest cluster of monsters, and then he slammed the blade into the ground releasing a crescent shaped blade of energy that raced forward and slammed into the creatures with explosive force. Limbs were torn from bodies, and inhuman shrieks sounded the air. Then as the gunfire continued to scatter and disorganize the things, Cloud gathered his remaining strength and charged.

–

Sephiroth allowed a small sense of satisfaction to enter his mind as he looked at his victims. Squall seemed to be completely unconscious, as did Rinoa. Zell on the other hand was trying to push himself up. Sephiroth scoffed as he briefly exerted his telekenesis to lift Zell into the air and hurl him into the wall of his house, then let the martial artist slump to the ground.

Sephiroth then turned his attention to Rinoa. This girl had interfered with his plans for Cloud, and more importantly she had demnostrated the potential to threaten Sephiroth. He would not tolerate this. He walked towards the girl and summoned the Masamune into his grip. She shifted slightly, and a soft moan escaped her lips.

Sephiroth smiled. "Fear not, for I shall reunite you with this planet." Then he raised the blade and swung it down. As he did, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye coming towards him fast, and he saw a flash of steel. He redirected his blade in mid swing to intercept the the blade driving it aside. It was a strange weapon. It had the hilt of a pistol, and the blade of a sword. Its wielder had blond hair and wore a white trench coat along with dark pants and a dark vest. The silver soldier stepped back allowing himself some room with which to maneuver and swung his own weapon in a clearing strike which the newcomer sprang backwards to avoid.

As he did, Sephiroth noticed two additional people advancing towards the fray. One was a muscular dark skinned man wielding a large staff weapon. The other was woman with grey hair and an eye patch, dressed in a blue sailors outfit. She held a bladed disc in one hand.

"Who are you?" Sephiroth demanded coldly.

The blond stepped into a stance facing Sephiroth sideways with his blade pointed at the Sephiroth's face. "Names Seifer." He said. "This here is Fuijin and Raijin." He gestured first to the woman, then to the man.

"RAGE." Fuijin said.

"You shouldn't be messin with Squall's girl ya know?" Raijin twirled his staff in preperation.

Sephiroth frowned at the newcomers as he said "I see that the virus has left you intact. I shall have to remedy that." Then without any further preamble, Sephiroth raised his blade and lunged.

–

Irvine frowned as he along with Quistis and Selphie moved quickly down the road after Cloud. The few remaining mosnters that had not followed Cloud had been easily dispatched, and now they were hoping to meet up with Cloud. The only thing that let them know they were heading in the right direction was the occasional dead monster.

A sudden pain shot through his body and he stumbled forward, barely managing to stay on his feet. Quistis and Selphie turned towards him with concern etched on their faces.

"Whats wrong?" Quistis asked.

"Not sure, just fel really dizzy all of a sudden." Irvine replied, trying to maintain his balance.

"Maybe we should take a rest." Selphie suggested. Irvine nodded and stumbled over to the side of a nearby house and leaned against the wall. He was having a hard time catching his breath.

"You're really pale." Selphie said.

"Am I?" Irvine seemed distracted, like he couldn't focus on anything. His vision seemed to double and he zoned out for just a few seconds. When he became aware again he was aware of an intense combination of hunger and lust. He was also aware of Quistis and Selphie looking at him in shock, their eyes focused on his left hand.

"What is it? Whats wrong?" He was aware that his voice sounded very raspy.

"You're hand." Selphie pointed uncertainly.

Irvine looked down at the apendage. The fingers had lengthened and the figner nails had sharpened into dangerous looking claws, while the skin had turned a bluish hue. The bone structure had changed giving it a gnarled and knobbly appearance.

He had to remind himself to breathe as he realized what this meant. He looked up slowly. He didn't need to say it, his companions already knew.

Selphie moved to his side in an instant putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as she said "We can fix this!" She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Maybe, but for now we're kinda stuck." Irvine said, then shuddered as a new urge spread through him. Images of blood and death shot through his mind. It took all his willpower to keep his mutated hand from slashing at Selphie.

Selphie didn't notice, she was looking at his hand, talking to him, trying desperately to reassure him. Quistis noticed though. Their eyes met, and Irvine nodded.

"Selphie." Quistis's voice was sad, but firm. "We need to go."

Selphie's head shot around to glare at Quistis. "I'm not leaving him!"

"Yes, you are." Irvine rasped. It was getting harder to talk, harder to remember how to pronounce the words.

"No! I can fix this." Selphie prepared to cast a healing spell.

Irvine growled low in his throat, and his hand came up, the claws raking across Selphie's shoulder. The force of the blow sent her stumbling back, while Quistis's whip snapped out and wrapped around the hand. With a quick twist of her wrist Irvine was flipped off his feet and slammed into the ground. In an instant Quistis retracted her weapon while grabbing Selphies uninjured arm with her fee hand, and then they ran.

Irvine slowly sat up and looked after them. His teeth elongated into fangs. He lowered his head, and let out an almost knine whimper.

–

To the people inside the restaurant Cloud was like something out of a nightmare. His sword came around in great sweeping strikes, tearing down anything in their path. Compared to the devestation he was causing, their guns seemed pathetic.

Cloud let out a grunt of pain as a pair of claws slashed across his back, but he didn't slow in the least as he whirled about and sliced his attackers belly open while it was still in midair, then whirled back into the main group with a feral roar.

The blond ducked and weaved in between a seemingly endless barrage of snapping jaws, whirling tentacles, and slashing claws. His blade was a whirlwind of steel. The owner of the restaurant, a stout man named John, watched the spectacle with a slack jaw. He was so distracted that he forgot to keep firing, though it hardly seemed to matter. The surviving monsters no longer seemed so eager to compete with the blond, who waded through them without ever breaking the rhythym of his slashes.

Finally, the remaining creatures turned and ran, desperation driving them to escape. Cloud stumbled after them for a couple of steps before his strength gave out and he collapsed.

There was a moment of silence from those watching, before John moved for the door.

"Careful, he might be dangerous." A young woman said.

"Maybe, but he looks human to me and he may have just saved our lives, so I'm bringing him inside." John replied. When nobody argued, he moved out the door and moved to Cloud's side.

Cloud was trying to stand, but had to use his sword as a crutch. "Damn!" He wheezed out.

"Hey! You alright?" John asked as he got closer.

Cloud slowly looked at him as he weakly said "I'll live."

"You look like shit." John assesed. "Me and about a dozen others are holed up in that there restaurant. We got some first aid supplies, and one of my patrons is a nurse."

Cloud nodded. "I'll need help to get there, I can't really walk right now." John nodded and moved to support Cloud.

"Names John." John said, then asked "Whats yours?"

"Cloud."

–

Seifer whirled to one side, bringing his sword around to deflect Masamune, but Sephiroth easily redirected the strike to Seifer's other side forcing he man to throw himself backwards, twisting at an awkward angle to block the attack.

Fuijin hurled her pinwheel at Sephiroth, who easily swat it away while sidestepping a blow from Raijin's staff. His foot came up and connected with the mans chest with tremendous force, knocking the man several feet through the air. Seifer used the distraction to lunge back in, but Sephiroth whirled and let the blow deflect harmlessly off the curve of his blade.

Raijin launched an attack of his own, a firaga spell which Sephiroth blocked with a barrier before flicking his blade in the mans direction releasing a crescent of energy which Raijin barely avoided, then spun out of the way of a kick from Fuijin and swung his blade at her. She bent nearly in half to avoid the blow before leaping away from a second strike while Seifer lunged in with a series of thrusts which Sephiroth easily parried.

Squall's eyes slowly opened, and he quickly became aware of the sounds of combat nearby. He lifted his head just in time to watch Raijin go flying past even as Seifer jumped in with a spinning slash which Sephiroth quickly blocked before thrusting at Seifer's side forcing him to back off, while Fuijin hurled a bolt spell which was also deflected off of Sephiroth's barrier.

Though Squall was surprised by the presence of Seifer and his posse, he was transfixed by Sephiroth. The man was fighting three highly skilled opponents at the same time, and as far as Squall could tell Sephiroth was winning. Raijin seemed to be having a hard time standing, Seifer's own movements were slowing down as fatigue set in, and Fuijin was without her weapon. In addition to that her spells were useless thanks to Sephiroth's barrier.

Squall quickly moved over towards Rinoa and checked her pulse. A sigh of relief escaped him as he found it.

Sephiroth stepped away from Seifer and hurled a blizzaga spell at him as Fuijin and Raijin tried to move to his side. Whirlwinds of sharp cutting ice bit into them, freezing their joints and slicing at their flesh.

Fuijin and Raijin both collapsed as they passed out, while Seifer stumbled. A smile spread over Sephiroth's face as he lunged forward and swung his sword, and Seifer let out a cry as the blade bit into his shoulder, letting out a spray of blood, and his gunblade fell from slackening fingers as his arm went limp.

Sephiroth allowed himself a moment of satisfaction as he held his blade aloft.

"Shit!" Seifer growled through clenched teeth.

A sudden swirl of light distracted them both, and they both turned just in time to see Squall seemingly vanish. When Sephiroth looked back to Seifer he saw that the blond had also vanished, along with all the others, except Sephiroth. Sephiroth scowled as he prepared himself for the imminent summon attack.

The area around him darkened as a gargantuan creature descended, surrounded by swirling bands of energy. Energy radiated in the area and Sephiroth found himself floating amidst what could be described as a large grid with a endless array of swirling colors behind it. Sephiroth was unfamiliar with this summon, but he could sense its power, and he had no desire to be hit by its attack. He swung his sword releasing a flurry of energy crescents that hurled into the thing only to dissipate harmlessly.

Reality itself bent towards the creature, and Sephiroth felt his very essence twisting and bending until he hovered above the thing, looking down at a massive blue circle which was imbedded in the creature. Sephiroth tried to move, but some incredible force held him in place, and the slightest hint of fear began to form in his mind as tremendous amounts of energy swirled about the things. A cylinder came up around him, as if targeting him. He cast his eyes about desperately for any way to escape. There was none.

A large glyph formed beneath him and what looked to be the planet itself twisted and writhed as it itself was formed into a series of glyphs which bulged forward as it prepared to release all its power. Sephiroth raised his sword in defense and summoned his barrier in preperation as a beam of power leapt forward and slammed into him, seeming to carry him through the cosmos and into the heart of the galaxy itself. With a final release of energy reality returned to normal, and Sephiroth slammed into the ground with such force that shattered concrete and dust sprayed out from the point of impact. The dyst cleared slowly to reveal Sephiroth floating there, surrounded in dark wisps of energy. He glared at Squall, then teleported away.


	14. Chapter 14

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:This chapters a bit on the short side, but the next one should be longer. Not really much to say other than I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has reviewed. And even if you haven't left a review, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my fic. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Also as an aside, the D-21 fighters I mention in this chapter are not a real type of jet (As far as I know) and are just something I made up for the sake of it.

* * *

Chapter 14

Squall's eyes slowly lifted until he was looking directly at Seifer. The blond sneered angrily as he rushed over to check on his Posse, quickly casting curative magic to heal their wounds, then his own. Squall wanted to know why Seifer, who was considered a traitor by the Balamb government, was right in the middle of Balamb. However his own companions came first. He quickly moved over to Rinoa and Zell respectively. Neither of them had fatal injuries, and a pair of Cura spells sufficed to heal both of them.

That done, Squall went about the process of waking his companions up, while Seifer did the same with Fuijin and Raijin. Neither of them spoke to each other. Squall wasn't exactly sure how he felt about Seifer's presence. On the one hand the man had saved them from Sephiroth, but he had also tried to kill them many times in the past.

Seifer simply didn't speak because he had nothing he really wanted to say to Squall. They had been rivals for the longest time, but Seifer didn't care anymore. That rivalry was one of many things he had left behind, including his almost fanatical devotion to Ultimecia, and his command of Galbadia's armies. None of those things had ever brought him anything but hardship. He wanted nothing more than some peace in his life. Of course that couldn't happen. This damn plague just had to sweep through Balamb.

"Ow, my head hurts." Zell muttered as he sat up.

"You took a hard hit." Squall informed him as he tended Rinoa.

Slowly she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed by Sephiroth." Squall tilted his head towards Seifer. "We got some backup."

Rinoa blinked as she saw Seifer. "Whats he doing here?"

"Don't know. Why don't you ask him." Squall suggested.

Seifer glanced over after engaging Fuijin and Raiji in a brief conversation. "So Squall, don't suppose you can tell me whats going on?" Seifer walked over calmly.

"A virus, released by the man you just fought." Squall explained briefly.

"One hell of a virus, ya know?" Raijin declared.

"Tell me about it." Zell muttered.

Everyone looked up as a distant ror reached their ears. "Perhaps it would be best to continue this conversation once we reach the train station." Rinoa suggested.

Squall nodded. "Lets get moving."

–

Xu paced the bridge of Balamb Garden, waiting anxiously for Nida to make a report. Nida's fingers flew over his control console as he searched for any information.

"Got it!" He declared, and Xu immediately rushed over. "Looks like a ferry left Balamb this morning. According to the schedule it should be only an hour or two away from Dollet."

"Can you get in contact with it?" Xu asked.

Nida quickly pressed a few buttons, then let out a weary sigh. "No response."

Xu frowned. "Contact the Dollet government and inform them of the situation."

"Understood."

–

Twenty minutes later a pair of D-21 fighter jets departed from a Dollet air base and raced over the ocean towards the Balamb ferry. The ship quickly came into view.

"There she is, over." The first pilot said.

"Run an imaging scan." The other replied. The first pilot complied, running visual and thermal scans. A frown crossed his face as he did.

"I don't see anything human left on that ship, over."

"Then our order are clear." The second pilot sounded resigned. The two planes swung around and fired a pair of missles each. The missles tore into the ferry, which quickly vanished in a series of voilent explosions. Their work done, the two pilots turned their planes back towards Dollet.

–

Nida let out a sigh as he sat back in his seat. "Looks the virus infected everyone on the ferry. Dollet's fighters destroyed it."

Xu nodded. "Send an order to our people around Balamb. See if they can capture one of the creatures alive."

Nida blinked back his suprise and sat up. "Are you sure thats a good idea?"

"We need one for our medical teams to study. We need to see if theres a way to reverse the virus' effects." She explained.

Nida nodded his understanding. "I'll relay the orders."

"Good."

President Caraway stood in his office, trying hard to keep a grimace off his face as he listened to the reports he was hearing.

"Retaking the city is out of the question at the moment. Heavy resistance has been cropping up all over the countryside. Moving our troops through the area won't be possible until the issue is dealt with." Caston's voice drifted from the speakers. Caraway observed Caston's facial expression on his computer screen.

"I see." The president slowly sat back.

"Sir, I would like to request permission to deploy a division of tanks into the countryside." General Caston requested.

Caraway considered this. He knew that the resistance probably lacked the firepower to directly engage a tank division. But he also knew just how determined, and desperate they were. If he gave Caston the go-ahead a lot of people would die in the next couple of days. Of course, even more people could die if he didn't.

"Permission granted General. Do what you need to do." Caraway said.

"Thank you sir." Caston said, then his face vanished from the screen. It was soon replaced by one of Galbadia's chief intelligence officers, Gared.

"Mr President, I have some news regarding Balamb you may be interested to hear." Gared said.

Caraway quirked an eyebrow. "Go on."

"Rather than preparing their defenses as we suspected they would, SeeD has been deploying a number of their people to quarantine Balamb. It seems nobody is allowed in or out." Gared informed him.

Caraway frowned as he considered this information. "I see. Do we have any idea as to why this might be?"

"Details are sketchy at best, but we know the teams blockading Balamb are wearing bio-hazard suits, and are heavily armed. In the last hour Balamb contacted Dollet, and shortly thereafter two Dollet fighter jets attacked and destroyed the Balamb ferry." Gared replied.

Caraway considered the implication's of this news. "Could this be a ploy on SeeDs part? To make us think its to risky to strike?"

"Perhaps, its to early to tell. I've refrained from sending any men in to close, just in case there is a real danger."

Caraway nodded. "Good call. I want you to get some of our surveilance planes into the air over Balamb, see what you can't see."

"Understood, anything else?"

"Not at the moment, but keep me posted."

"Naturally. Over and out."

Caraway took a moment to think once the screen went blank. It seemed that for whatever reason everything that could go wrong had chosen this particular point in time to do so. He put his face in his hands and blew out a long sigh. There were times when he wondered why he had taken this job. How much easier would his life have been if he had chosen a more down to earth profession?

Pushing such thoughts out of his mind, he picked up his phone and dialed the secretary of defense, and ordered the third naval fleet to blockade Balamb's harbor.


	15. Chapter 15

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:Finally got a new chapter up! This took a little longer than normal bcause I wasn't to sure how I wanted to resolve all of the events in Balamb. However I have a plan, and the next chapter should come sooner, but I'm not going to make any promises. Anyway, hope you all enjoy and please give me feedbak.

* * *

Chapter 15

Cloud gazed around at the interior of the restaurant as John helped him towards an unoccupied booth. There were a handful of people scattered about, all of whom were armed with makeshift weapons that under normal circumstances would never be seen as dangerous. Only two others besides John seemed to have guns. In these peoples eyes he could see fear, bordering on paranoia. One or two looked back at him with suspicion, while the others seemed to take an intered in the floor.

"Here we go." John said as Cloud sat down on the worn leather seat. The blond resisted the urge to slump onto the table, and instead opted to lean back against the seat.

"You don't look like you're from around here." A man in the corner said.

Cloud glanced in his direction. "I'm not. I'm part of the team Garden sent."

"Does that mean they're planning a rescue?" A young woman asked hopefully from behind the counter.

Cloud considered his response. As far as he could tell it was probably to late for rescue. Those who hadn't been infected by the virus could still be carrying it, making it to dangerous to let them out of the city. But he knew these people needed hope, and who was he to deny them that?

"Right now we're looking for a way to reverse the virus that has mutated your fellow townsmen." It was the truth. Whether or not it could be done was another matter altogether.

–

The train station soon came into view. The landing just outside the main entrance was covered in shredded bodies, both human and monster. The cobblestones had been painted red with blood. The entrance itself was dark, and it was impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. It was altogether one of the most disturbing and eerie sights Squall had ever seen.

Behind him he could almost hear Zell going stiff. "Ma!" He yelled rushing forward with a panic fueled speed.

"Zell!" Squall warned, but the martial artist was already dissapearing into the shadows. With a curse, Squall rushed after him, vaguely aware that the others were following. Up ahead he heard surprised shouts, and a gunshot.

When he finally arrived on the main platform he could see Zell standing there, facing a crowd of frightened people, with one hand pressed to his shoulder. A man stood at the front of the crowd. A rifle was cradled in his arms, smoke curling from the end of the barrel.

"Sweet Hyne!" The shooter exclaimed. "I thought you were another one of those things!"

"Damnit Spencer! Don't you be shooting my boy." A figure moved from the crowd quickly to Zell's side.

"Ma! You're alive!" Zell cried in delight. He moved to hug her, but a sudden jolt of pain in his shoulder reminded him that he'd been shot. Grumbling in annoyance, he cast curaga on himself.

Squall ignored them and turned his attention to the rest of the crowd. A few dozen people at the most.

"Whose in charge here?" He asked.

An older man with a graying beard stepped out from the crowd. "That'd be me. Gary Corwick at your service."

Squall recognized the man. He had seen him working here once or twice during past missions. Squall approached him.

"How many people are alive here?" Squall asked.

Gary sighed as he muttered "Not enough." He met Squall's gaze. "Maybe thirty people here. There were more, but they tried to go for help."

Squall remembered the shredded bodies outside, and a shudder ran down his spine.

"I see." The commander said. "Has anyone left on the trains?"

"No, not since the monster showed up." Gary replied.

Squall felt a wave of relief pass through him.

"But," Gary said, and Squall stiffened. "There was the morning train heading to the Timber countryside. Why?"

"Is there any way to stop the train from here?" Squall demanded with a note of urgency in his voice.

"No. Whats going on? Is this some sort of plague?"

Squall was already turning away as he pulled his phone from his pocket, muttering a quick thanks to Gary before activating the speed dial.

"Xu here." He heard.

"Listen, you need to contact the Galbadian government and let them know whats going on here." Squall said.

"Understood, but why?"

"Right now a train full of possible plague victims is on its way to the Timber countryside. Galbadia has a substantial portion of their miliatary operating in Timber right now, so they might have a chance to blockade the area." Squall explained quickly.

There was a pause on the other end, followed by brief and hurried talking.

"Done." Came Xu's voice. "Now I have some updates for you."

"Go on."

"Galbadia's navy is moving to bloackade Balamb. It seems they're moving early."

Squall frowned. "Anything else?"

"Our perimeter managed to catch a live specimen. No idea if the virus can be cured or not, but we have determined that decontamination procedures can effectively kill the virus as long as they are enacted before mutations start. It should also be effective on removing the virus from those with immunity."

"Good work." Squall said, then added "Is the Ragnorak operational?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. My group needs extraction from the train station.." Squall said.

"Understood, as soon as decontamination equipment has been brought aboard I'll send it your way, ETA one hour."

That done Squall flipped the phone shut. Now he just had to hope that Galbadia could prevent the plague from spreading in Timber.

–

General Caston stood near a tactical display map with a handful of other high ranking officers aboard Galbadia Garden. Both of his fellow officers were Generals, but of a lower caliber than Caston, who was in command of the Timber campaign.

"The Timber resistance forces in the town of Palsdon have been driven out with few casualties on our side. The remnants of their forces are scattering amongst farms and the like in the countryside. My men are already hunting them down, its only a mater oftime before eastern Timber is fully under Galbadian control." The man to his left, General Griffon said gesturing to the map.

"Good," Caston nodded, then looked to the man on his right. "What of western Timber?"

The man to his right, General Maddison said "Sadly things are a bit more complicated. Aerial survielance has been difficult due to anti-aircraft weaponry. In addition resistance fighters in the area have gotten their hands on some RPGs, which have been giving our armored tank divisions no end of trouble. For now casualties are moderate."

Caston frowned while Griffon said "How in the hell did they get their hands on RPGs? There aren't any weapons caches in the area they could have raided, and so far non of our anti-armor squads have seen much action."

"Perhaps an outside supplier." Caston suggested.

The other two looked at him. Slolwy, understanding dawned on their faces. "You think SeeD is supplying them." Maddison breathed.

"Precisely." Caston replied. "We already have confirmation of their presence in Timber during the initial attack, and reason believe they played a role in the attack on this very Garden. In addition we know that Commander Leonhart's sweetheart was once a Timber resistance fighter herself. It stands to reason she would still want to see Timber liberated, and its possible Leonhart feels the same way."

"So they could be supplying Timber with the weapons it needs to fight us." Griffon said in agreement.

A moment of silence passed before Maddison turned to Caston. "What of your attempts at securing central Timber?"

Caston stood a bit straighter as he said "Resistance has been heavy thus far. The resistance has been using guerilla tactics to slow our advances. General Griffon, since your own campaign has gone so well, could you lend a platoon to help hunt down these fighters?"

"Certainly." Griffon said.

Caston started to speak again when a young lieutenant rushed over. "Sirs, we've just received a message from Balamb."

Caston turned to face the lad. "Are they offering their surrender, or proof of their innocence?"

"Neither sir, they claim a train heading towards Timber may be carrying a number of plague victims."

"What kind of plague?" Caston inquired.

"They claim it causes severe mutations and complete insanity, turning its victims into monsters."

Maddison narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like a trick to me, possibly to draw our forces attention away from Timber's resistance forces, give them breahting room."

"I agree." Caston said as he turned back to the map. A quick scan showed the only train station in Timber still active was in a small town called Grisdul.

The others looked too. "The resistance doesn't have any forces there." Griffon noted.

Caston nodded. "Remember that platoon I requested?" Griffon nodded. "Send them to occupy Grisdul instead. Make it clear to them that nobody enters of leaves the town without my authority, and that they are to secure the train station and determine if the reports from Balamb are true."

"Understood, I'll get on it now." Griffon turned and walked away to issue the orders. Caston let out a growl as he looked over the map. Whether this was a deception on Balmb's part or not, it would not end well.

–

It was a struggle for Selphie to keep moving forward. She wanted nothing more than to cry. She didn't care that Quistis would see, didn't care if anyone saw. She wasn't even sure why she kept moving. Maybe because she thought if she just kept going she would wake up, and all of this would have been a bad dream. Irvine would be fine, he'd hug her and she'd tease him and he'd pretend to be offended. They would share a laugh then.

"We made it." Quistis said. Selphie glanced up and saw that her companion was correct. Before them was the Balamb inn, and past that, the docks. The door to the inn had been smashed inwards, and a foul smell drifted from inside. Selphie even thought she could hear claws scraping across stone.

"You hear that?" She asked.

"Yeah." Quistis replied. The two crept closer and Selphie peeked through the door. Inside she could see a hunched and twisted creature feasting on what might have once been a human.

Selphie locked onto that image, a slow fire coming to life inside her. Before Quists could even begin to react Selphie stepped fully into the doorway, a swirl of magic rushing up around her a moment before a wave of fire poured into the lobby accompanied by a scream of rage. The creature let a shriek of agony as the flames washed over it. The spell didn't even have a chance to fade before Selphie cast another.

An unstoppable wave of heat and destruction burned through the door leading to the back room, and raced up te stairs to the second floor. The roar of the flames drowned out any possible shrieks, but Selphie didn't care.

"Selphie stop!" Quistis lunged grabbing Selphie and pulling her back before she could cast again.

"Let me go!" Selphie screeched, tears running down her face.

"You'll draw more of them right to us!" Quistis growled.

"I don't care!" Selphie collapsed to her knees, unable to hold back her sobs. "I don't care."

Quistis knelt down next to her friend and embraced her. She offered no words. There were no words that could have made it better, and even if there were, Quistis didn't know them.

It took Quistis several seconds to realize her cell phone was ringing. She lifted the phone to her ear.

"Quistis, I need a status report." Squall's voice came.

Quistis blew out a long sigh. "Selphie and myself are at the harbor, we haven't found any survivors. We were seperated from Cloud a ways back, he led some of the mosnters away." Quistis opened her mouth to continue, but couldn't force herself to speak. Not with Selphie listening.

"Quistis? What about Irvine?" Squall asked.

"Infected." Quistis said in a whisper, so quiet she barely heard herself. There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

"Understood." Squall's voice shook ever so slightly. "We're bringing the Ragnorak in for an extraction. Its going to pick up the civilians at the train station, then I'll have it swing around to get you. Can you hold your position?"

"Yes, we can hold out." Quistis assured him.

"Good luck." Squall hung up.

–

Squall frowned as he turned towards Rinoa. "Quistis and Selphie are ok and awaiting extraction. Irvine was infected however, and Cloud's whereabouts are unknown."

"No way." Rinoa muttered.

Squall turned and started walking towards the exit. "Zell!" He called.

Zell looked over from Ma. "Yo!"

Squall gestured for Zell to head over. Seeing this, Seifer also started in his direction after exchanging some brief words with his posse. As Zell reached him Squall said "I'm going to leave you in charge of guarding this place until Ragnorak arrives. I'm going to try and locate Cloud."

"You crazy? Theres all kinds of monsters and stuff out there!" Zell exclaimed.

"Cloud is under my command. It is my responsibility to bring him back alive." Squall said.

"What about Irvine?" Rinoa asked.

Squall winced. "He's infected, until we can find a cure theres nothing I can do. Cloud's fate is less certain at this time."

"Well then I'm coming too." Rinoa declared placing her hands on her hips.

"No, you're going to stay here and guard these civilians and leave with the Ragnorak." Squall insisted.

"You are not going out there alone." Rinoa said.

"Relax." Seifer spoke. "I'll go with him."

Squall looked at him in surprise.

"Don't look so surprised." Seifer said with a roll of his eyes. "I need a good workout anyway."

Squall sighed but didn't protest, instead saying "What about Fuijin and Raijin?"

"Already told em' to stay here." Seifer shrugged. Seeing Squall's confusion he said "When you started towards the exit I figured you were heading out. Decided to follow then, and told them to stay."

"I still don't like this." Rinoa said.

"I don't need you to like it. I just need you to accept it." Squall replied impatiently.

"Fine." Rinoa said.

"Good." Squall said, then looked at Seifer. "Ragnorak's ETA is roughly forty minutes from now. If we can't find Cloud in that time then we head to the harbor and rendevouz with the Ragnorak there."

Seifer smirked. "Alright then, ladies first." Squall growled verbally, but started out anyway. He was the leader afterall, and he hated it.


	16. Chapter 16

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

Finally finished this chapter. It took a bit logner than I would have liked to do it, but here it is. You would not believe the spelling errors I caught when I read through this. At one point I called Balamb Nibelheim, and a vehicle a video and half a dozen others. I really think I should start getting more sleep. As usual I hope you enjoy it, and please leave reviews.

* * *

Chapter 16

Wedge sat quietly in the passenger seat of one of several armoured vehicles in the fifteenth regiment Of Alpha division. The platoon to which he was assigned was even now rolling into the quaint town of Grisdul. A handful of buildings were clustered around a central square, with a handful of other buildings scattered around the edge of town. The roads were unpaved, and as such a great deal of dust was kicked up by the platoons passing. The only noteworthy thing in this small town was the trainstation which had been constructed some fifteen years ago as part of an effort to smooth diplomatic relations with Balamb.

Wedge looked out the windows at the homes and shops of Grisdul. Nobody was outside at the moment, but if he looked closely he thought he could see faces peering at them from between the curtains of some homes windows. He wondered if the resistance would bother stationing troops in a such a small town as this. Would one of those faces in a window suddenly conjure an RPG and and rain fiery death upon them? He forced such thoughts from his head and listened to his fellow soldiers in the back seat.

"So Sarge, remind us again what we're doing in a backwater place like this?" Private Hudson asked.

Seargent Donelly shifted glanced to the private at his right. "Officially we are here to secure the peace and to prevent enemy forces from using Grisdul as a fallback point."

"I thought the 21st mopped up all the resistance fighters in this region? What makes command think they'll come back after that ass-whoopin?" That from the driver.

"Yeah Sarge." Hudson spoke up. "What are we really doing here?"

"Unofficialy we are here because a train full of possible plague victims is en route from Balamb." Donelly replied.

A man whose name Wedge didn't know asked "Why doesn't Balamb just recall the train? They can do that right?"

"I don't know." The Seargent said in exasperation.

Hudson grinned. "I thought you knew everything sarge."

"Shut up." Donelly shot back.

As they talked the convoy began to split up, some vehicles heading towards the central square, and others towards the train station. Wedge's truck came to a stop next to the main road leading in and out of the square.

"Alright men, our squads in charge of holding this road. Anyone tries to enter or leave town by this road without proper clearance and we waste them." Donelly said.

He was met a chorus of "Yes sir!"

Wedge poured out of the truck with the rest of his squad, except for the driver who quickly set sobut angling the vehicle so the gunner manning the fifty cal. mounted on top of the truck had a good view of the surrounding area, both in and out of the square. Another truck and its squad were busily setting up on the other side of the square.

"Wedge! Hudson! You two patrol the perimeter. Remember, nobody goes in or out of town who doesn't have proper clearance and identification."

Wedge felt slightly uncomfortable as he and Hudson moved together towards the edge of the square. He didn't really know him, or anyone else in the squad. He had been transferred into this unit after his last platoon had been wiped out.

At the mere thought of the event his hand started to shake. Hudson noticed. "You ok man?"

"Yeah." Wedge lied. He rested his shivering hand on the hilt of his army issued sword, forcing it to clamp down on the weapon.

"If you say so." Hudson shrugged.

Wedge let out a sigh, and couldn't quite supress a shudder at the memory of those catlike eyes that had peered into his soul, just before tearing the world around him to pieces.

–

Squall and Seifer moved as quietly as they could down the streets of Balamb, going from cover to cover. Squall cast a quick glance at the sun as it lazily moved towards the skyline. It would be dark in less than an hour. He mentally calculated how much time was left before Galbadia would declare war. Twelve hours, maybe a little less. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud shrieking sound.

"Squall!" Seifer hissed. He grabbed Squall by the shoulder and pulled him back. A moment later Squall was glad he had as he saw shadows shifting. The two quickly hid behind the side of a building. Dozens of buildings moved past their position and out of sight, letting out shrieks and roars of their own.

"Where are they going?" Seifer wondered.

"Doesn't matter, we need to keep moving." Squall replied. The two quickly proceeded forwards. They rounded a corner and Squall came to a sudden stop.

"Wow, somebody had fun here." Seifer muttered.

Before them the street was littered with the torn corpses of various monsters. Squall briefly examined their injuries and determined that they had been killed with a sword.

"Cloud did this." He concluded.

"By himself?" Seifer asked. On Squall's nod Seifer let out a low whistle. "This guy must be one hard-core son of a bitch."

Squall looked around and quickly located a trail of human blood leading towards a nearby restaurant.

"Come on." He ordered.

As they approached the restaurant a man stepped into view through one of the broken windows. He was holding a gun.

"Who goes there?" He asked.

"I'm Commander Leonhart from Balamb Garden." Squall said.

"And I'm his baby sitter." Seifer added.

"Really? Quickk, get in here before more monster show up." The man called.

Squall and Seifer walked forward, letting themselves through the front door.

–

Cloud looked up groggily as Squall and another man he didn't recognize entered the building. Squall spotted him immediately, but before either of them could say anything John started talking.

"So whats the word? Is rescue on its way?"

Squall turned towards him. "Yes. Ragnorak is due to pick us up at the harbor. I have some people there already to keep the place clear of monsters."

"We can't go to the harbor." John protested. "If we run into those thing we could all die!"

"Thats what Seifer and myself are here for. We'll escort you." Squall said, then glanced at Cloud. "He can help too."

"Sure." Cloud responded. "But what about the virus? Won't we risk spreading it if we leave."

"Xu thinks she's found a way to decontaminate us." Squall responded.

Cloud nodded, grabbed his sword, and rose to his feet. Some of his injuries had already healed thanks to his enhancements, but his muscles were still exhausted. Still, if he could avoid spending more time in this city then he was ready to go.

"I'm ready." He said.

John blew out a sigh as he turned to the other survivors. "Everyone get ready, we're getting out of this place."

–

Lieutenant Cormyn of the Galbadian army carefully scrutinized the tunnel that the inbound train would pass through in only a few minutes. Scattered around the platform were four armoured vehicles, one of which was a G-2 model tank equipped with a 120-millimeter canon, and roughly two-dozen troops.

A private walked in front of Cormyn and snapped a crisp salute. "The trains ETA is thirty seconds sir!"

"Understood Private, tell everyone one to get ready."

"Yes sir!"

There was a few seconds of silence as he watched intently. Then came the echo of the oncoming train. The distant whisper of grinding metal drawing closer and closer until he could make out its shape rapidly approaching.

The train rolled out of the darkness like some unholy creature and cam to a slow stop. The silence resumed. Cormyn gave a nod to a pair of soldiers, who returned the gesture and moved with practiced precision to the main car of the train.

The tension could have been cut with a knife as the door slid open and the soldiers peered into the interior. Then the silence was broken as a blur of a creature launched itself from the darkness to collide with the troops on the platform.

Before anyone could comprehend what was happening monsters began crashing out through the trains windows, and smashing through all the exits.

"Fire at will!" Cormyn shouted. A thunderous boom filled the air as the G-2 fired its canon into the lead car blasting a fiery hole into it. In the wake of the blast every troop in the station opened fire with automatic weapons, and the ongoing roar of the 50 cal. Guns on the other vehicles deafened everyone nearby. Most normal monsters would have been cut down by this onslaught in a matter of seconds. But these creatures moved with blinding speed, only a couple being caught in the firestorm. The rest quickly tore into the assembled troops, and the sound of gunfire began to fade, replaced by blood-curdling screams.

Cormyn gave up tyring to shout orders, nobody could hear him at the moment. Instead he lifted his rifle towards on oncoming beast and fired several controlled bursts. The creature shieked as the bullets tore into its pale flesh, and black oily substance poured from the wounds. It wasn't enough. A barbed tenetacle lashed out piercing Cormyn's chest.

It lifted him into the air and examined him like a choice piece of meat, then flicked him aside like a piece of trash. The G-2's canon fired again, sending fiery death ripping through the second car, killing the creatures that remained inside. A large brute of beast swiveled its head to regard the tank, then opened its mouth where swirling arcane energy gathered and discharged as large fireball. The spell slammed into the tank erupting into a pillar of flames that burned right through the G-2's armour.

The creature turned towards its next victim.

–

Wedge's head turned so fast that he almost got whiplash when the first boom of a firing canon reached his ears. In an instant every soldier in the square had weapons out, and the few civilians who had come outside ran for their houses as the subsequent sound of gunfire reached their ears.

"Everyone take defensive positions now!" Donelly shouted. As the troops rushed to obey his orders he pulled out his radio and held it to his mouth. "This is Seargent Donelly, whats going on over there?"

"We are under heavy attack!" Came the reply, just as the canon fired a second time. "We need reinforcements now!" Another explosion echoed from the direction of the station and the radio went dead.

"Shit!" Donelly spat.

"Whats are orders Sarge?" Hudson asked.

Before Donelly could respond a flood of panicked civilians came running down the road from the station. Shrieks and roars followed them, and soon the creatures responsible came into view.

"Our job is now to hold those things off to give these people a chance to escape." The seargent declared, and turned to the gunner. "Fire."

The fifty cal. Gun spat lead death over the crowds heads and into the oncoming hoard.

"Hudson, Wedge, you two start telling all the civies to evacuate!" Donelly shouted.

Wedge snapped a salute and ran for the nearast house, while Hudson ran to the other side of the square. The troops posted across from them had already moved to engage the monsters.

Wedge practicly smashed his way through the first door he reached. Seeing a man and a woman inside he shouted "Get out of here now!"

He didn't stay to see if they listened, he ran to the next house. Every house contained frightened and confused occupants. Some of them ran when Wedge said to, others did not.

By the time they had finished the first group of soldiers had been completely wiped out. Bullets and the occasional spell flew from Donelly and his men, just barely keeping the monsters back. Panicked villiagers ran about, not sure where to run. Those that hesitated in choosing a direction were quickly attacked. But oddly enough, the creatures only killed a couple of their victims. The others they left on the ground, where the virus slowly began to take hold.

"Thats it!" Donelly shouted. "We're getting outta here! Everyone in the truck now!"

–

Squall led the way from the restaurant and onto the street. The only sound was that of the the Ragnorak, likely picking up Rinoa and the others at the train station.

"Something doesn't feel right about this." Cloud said quietly.

"Agreed, keep your guard up." Squall replied. Cloud offered a nod and they continued on.

Cloud reached his hand over his back and drew his sword, just in case. He couldn't help but notice the look on Seifer's face.

"What are you looking at?" Cloud asked.

Seifer shrugged. "Thats an awfully big sword you got there. I was just wondering if you were compensating for something."

Cloud's eyes narrowed somewhat. "If I hear another joke like that I might decide to introduce you to my sword."

"Quiet." Squall hissed at them. The civilians observed the exchange with a nervous confusion.

As they approached the harbor a prickling feeling began to work its way up Cloud's neck. "Squall, those creatures are nearby I think."

Squall responded with a barely perceptible nod and raised his sword into a ready position. By the time they rounded the corner and found themselves in the harbor the sun had set plunging them into the dark of night. Quistis and Selphie stood near the docks waiting for them.

"Commander," Quistis began, but Squall signaled her to be quiet.

Cloud's enhanced sense began to pick up the faintest sounds of claws scrathing on the ground, getting closer ever so slowly.

"They're heading this way." He whispered.

Squall frowned as he looked around. Any chance he had of hearing anything was erased as the Ragnorak flew over head and began to lower itself for a landing.

"Alright." Squall said as he turned towards John's group. "You guys will board first. The rest of us will provide cover for you. Selphie and Quistis board first, then Seifer and Cloud, and I'll board last. Understood?"

Everyone nodded as the ramp lowered. John led his group forwards while the others formed a defensive half-circle behind them.

"When did Seifer get here?" Quistis asked casually as she glanced over, though there was an angry fire hidden in her eyes.

Seifer ignored it as he said "I live here, 332 fifth street to precise. Honestly I'm surprised nobody from Garden ever noticed."

"Company." Cloud said. Sure enough, dozens of creatures were closing slowly out of the shadows of the night. There were so many of them that even Cloud couldn't begin to count them all.

There was a brief moment of stillness, and then the beasts surged forward almost as a single wave. Unfortunately for them, Selphie and Quistis had both prepared ther Guardian Forces. Ifrit and Shiva descended amongst a storm of fire and ice blasting the first row of monsters into oblivion before fading back into their own dimension.

Their job done, the two women dashed up the ramp while the next wave of monsters rushed forwards. Cloud swung his blade sending a blade beam that tore one clean in half, while Seifer blasted another down with a Firaga spell. That done they both retreated into the Ragnorak, which was beginning to lift back into the air.

Squall sheathed his gunblade as he summoned up an ultima spell. The torrent of green energy tore into the advancing hoard. Then Squall turned. The Ragnorak was already moving. Letting out a string of cusses, Squall ran after it as fast as his legs could carry him after the airship. He could see Rinoa at the top of the ramp. She was yelling at him but he couldn't hear her. She lifted her hands and began to hurl spell after spell at the creatures which were rapidly gaining on Squall.

Finally as he reached the end of the docks he leapt into the air, fingers outstrectched towards that ramp.

Cloud ran down the ramp, the mako in his system allowing him to maintain his balance despite the fast movements of the Ragnorak. His hand shot out catching Squall's wrist.

In an instant the commander was jerked higher into the air as the airship began to ascend up from the doomed city of Balamb. He looked up and saw the strain on Cloud's face. His grip started to slip. Cloud's other hand began to reach out just as the Ragnorak swung around to begin its return flight to Garden. In that instant, the centrifugal force tore Squall's wrist from Cloud's grip, and the Commander of SeeD plummeted down towards the cold unforgiving waters of the ocean.


	17. Chapter 17

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

**AN:After a long break I finally finished the next chapter. ****I've been busy off and on, and when I had time to write I ussually didn'tfeel like it. But I'm back on my game, so pleas enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 17

At 10:37 PM the truck containing the last survivors of the fifteenth regiment tore out of Grisdul at roughly eighty miles per hour, with a pack of at least a dozen monsters slowly gaining on them.

"Wedge! Get on the fifty Cal now!" Donelly shouted, his voice thick with tension.

Wedge lunged across the back seat and stood on the small platform that had been placed in the center of the struck. His head and shoulders lifted into the night air that tore past the truck as it bounced across the uneven ground. His hands clamped down on the handles for the heavy gin and swivelled it around to face the monsters. Without hesitation he pressed down on the trigger and sent a spray of death into the creatures. One after another they went down until less then half the pack remained. A larger looking creature pulled itself to the head of the pack as Wedge continued to fire. Its mouth opened and a large fireball erupted from between its jaws.

"Incoming!" Wedge shouted down into the vehicle. The driver swerved the truck just in time, allowing the fireball to race past the vehicle and detonate voilentlyagainst the ground. The shockwave slammed intoc the truck which began to fishtail wildly.

"Take that one out now!" Donelly ordered while the driver struggled to regain control. Wedge didn't need to be told twice. He opened fire once again, but the creature didn't go down. To make matters worse a pair of smaller, faster creatures that may have been dogs at one point pulled up alongside the truck.

Donelly grabbed his assualt rifle just as one of the things sprang up and smashed through the window. A burst of gunfire lit the inside of the vehicle and the shrieking of the creature filled their ears. A claw lashed out and blood splattered everywhere.

"Sarge!" Hudson's own gun came up and fired several rounds into the creature at point blank range.

Wedge was oblivious to this as he struggled to take down the larger creature which was barely twenty yards away. The thing sprang forward and grabbed onto the back of the truck with its claws, its face staring at Wedge over the top of the truck. Before the terrified soldier could aim the weapon properly a large clawed hand reach forward and grabbed hold of the gun, then pulled. Metal squeeled as it pulled apart and sparks burst from suddenly severed wires. Wedge hardly even noticed his bowels voiding themselves as he watched this creature throw the gun aside as if it were nothing.

A hand shot out at Wedge who threw himself to one side, his ribs slamming painfully against the rim of the hatchway. His hand moved in a blur, snatching his sidearm from his hip and leveling it at the creature as he fired as fast as he could. The thing seemed more annoyed than hurt by the attack, and took another swipe at him. Wedge let himself go limp and fall back into the truck.

While that was happening, the second small creature leapt onto the side of the truck and swiftly moved onto the hood. A tail whipped around behind it,tipped with what almost looked like a scythe blade. A series of voilent expletives escaped the drivers mouth as he yanked the steering wheel hard to the right in the hopes of throwing the thing off. Razor sharp talons dug into the metal of the hood and allowed the thing to remain firmly in place. The tail whipped around and the windshield shattered in a spray of glass.

In the back Hudson raised his assualt rifle and began to fire between the seats. Several bullets struck the thing causing it fall sideways. Just before it dissapeared from sight its tail lashed one more time, and blood sprayed from the drivers throat. His hands shot up to try to stop the bleeding,and the vehicle swerved to one side. Hudson lunged forward and grabbed the wheel, struggling to steady the vehicle while Wedge dropped intothe back seat.

"We got trouble!" Wedge shouted.

Hudson would have responded if he hadn't been focusing so hard on trying not to crash. The creature on top the truck reached through the hatch and down towards Wedge. Wedge struggled to yank his sword free of its sheath as the hand wrapped around his left ankle. Bones popped and crunched, and his efforts to draw his blade were replaced with screams of pain.

As Wedge began thrashing about his arm struck Hudson's side distracting him for just a second. The wheel spun out of control and the truck swerved sharply, its wheels leaving the ground as it crashed and rolled along the ground. After several jarring seconds it rolled to a stop.

Hudson's eyes slowly opened. The first thing he noticed was the incredible pain in his legs. He looked downwards and quickly located the cause. The truck had flipped upside down, and Hudson's legs were pinned beneath the heavy vehicle. It seemed as though he had been thrown from the windshield during the crash. He heard a roar coming from his right and turned his head to look. The remainder of the horde was swiftly closing on them. With a snarl he lifted his assualt rifle and aimed it carefully as he placed his finger on the button for the grenade launcher built into the underside of the rifle. Then as the monsters closed into range he fired.

–

Silence filled the Ragnorak as the hatchway closed, closing off the outside world. The only sound that reached Cloud's ears was the humming of the engines, and the sound of his own breathing.

Then Rinoa moved, her hand coming down on the intercom button. "Turn as around now! Squall's fallen out!"

"What!" Nida's voice carried over the speakers.

"Squall fell, we have to help him." Rinoa replied.

"Understood." Came the response. Ragnorak swung around, and hovered over the ocean. Nida's eyes scanned carefully out the view screen, searching for any sign of Gardens Commander. Cloud and the others quickly made their way to the cockpit.

"I can't see anything, when exactly did we lose him?" Nida asked.

"Just before the hatch closed." Cloud said, his own mako enhanced eyes scanning the waters below.

Nida's eyes widened somewhat. "Are you sure?" Upon seeing Cloud's nod Nida said "Then we dropped him right near that Galbadian cruiser, thats where we were when I closed the hatch."

"Then what are you waiting for!" Rinoa demanded, a note of hysteria entering her voice. "Get us over there!"

"I can't! If the Galbadians mistake my aproach as an attack they'll open fire." Nida said.

"I don't care!" Rinoa growled. "Take us there now." Her voice grew low and threatening."

"B-but I," Nida stammered.

Rinoa's next words were interupted by Quistis. "Hail the cruiser, tell them we lost a crewmember and need to run a sweep around their vessel to try to find him."

Nida flashed a quick thumbs up. "Understood."

While the pilot went about his work Cloud approached Quistis. "You've worked with Squall before, do you think he could have survived?"

Quitsis nodded slowly. Such a fall would have certainly killed most people, but Squall had survived all kinds of things regular people couldn't.

"I think so," She finally anwsered. "But we'll need to find him soon or the cold water will finsh him off."

Cloud nodded in response as he glanced towards Rinoa. It was clear to him that she had feelings for Squall, the two were likely a couple. He also was fully aware of Rinoa's power. It was clear she was just barely controlling herself. She was trembling, though whether out of fear that Squall was dead, or rage that they weren't moving faster to help him, Cloud couldn't tell. What he did know was that it wouldn't take much to make her snap, and if that happened she would become extremely dangerous.

He returned his attention to his surroundings as Nida spoke. "Its no good. They say that they will run a sweep of their own, but if we approach the area they will fire on us."

Rinoa's eyes narrowed. "What!"

"They're ordering us to withdraw immediately." Nida went on.

An unnatural wind swept through the cockpit, and an aura of arcane power began to form around Rinoa.

"We need to go in anyway." She said calmly.

"But they'll fire on us. The Ragnorak can't take that kind of attack, we'd just be getting ourselves killed." Nida protested.

Rinoa turned her gaze towards the cruiser. "Then I'll just have to take them out first."

"No." Quistis said."If you do that there is a chance Squall could be killed. Besides that Galbadia would take that as an act of war, and what little chance we have right now of avoiding armed conflict with them will be gone."

Rinoa considered her words for a moment before finally relenting. The aura faded, and the wind died. "Fine." She hissed.

"Don't worry, the Galbadians will find Squall if he's there, and they won't want to hurt him. They don't want to provoke us any more than we wan to provoke them, so we still have at least ten hours before he'll be in any danger from the Galbadians."

Rinoa nodded as she slowly sank into a chair, and did not speak further.

Quistis turned towards Nida. "Take us back to Garden."

"Yes ma'am."

–

Squall hit the water with a fierce impact. Pain spread throughout his whole body in an instant and the breath was forced from his lungs. He swiftly became aware that he was submerged. He kicked his legs hard. He needed to reach the surface, he needed air. His head broke the surface, and a sudden wave of dizziness hit him. For several moments he floated there, barely conciouss. It was a constant struggle just to stay afloat.

He realize have must have blacked out when he felt someone pulling him up by his arm.

"Sir we found him!" He hard a voice say.

"Good work, lets get him back to the ship."

Squall tried to speak, but blackness closed in.

–

Caston looked up as a liuetenent approached him. The young man snapped a crisp salue and spoke.

"Sir, we've just received a report that Squall Leonheart has fallen into custody."

Caston's eyes widened somewhat. "What? We aren't authorised to take action for ten more hours."

"I know sir, appearantly he was rescued by our men in the area after he fell from Ragnorak." The man replied.

"I see." Caston said. "Send word to the fleetcommander that I want Squall delivered here immediately."

"Sir?"

"You heard me." Caston's eyes narrowed.

"Yes sir!"

As the man walked away Caston looked down at the tactical display, but his eyes didn't see it. They saw only an uncertain future.


	18. Chapter 18

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:There was going to be more to this chapter, however I decided to split it into two chapters for two reasons. First, due back pains I can't spend much time on the computer at a stretch these days. Consequently if I made this chapter as long as I had originally intended it would take much longer to finish, which leads into my second reason. I have another fanfiction which I want to update soon, and so I want to save some time on this chapter so I can work on getting that done as well. That said I hope to post the next chapter of this story sometime in december. In the meantime I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 18

The first thing Wedge became aware of upon wakening was a sharp pain in his side. Probably broken ribs, he decided. He looked around, quickly taking in his surroundings. He seemed to be lying on the ceiling of the truck, with the seats and floor suspended above him. He decided that didn't seem right, and glanced for the nearest window. It was still dark out, but the moon was putting out enough light for Wedge to see the ground. Confirming that the truck was upside down. His second glance around the truck didn't paint a nice picture. Donelly's corpse was twisted and broken lying next to Wedge. It looked as if his chest had been slashed repeatedly. The driver hung upside down, still strapped into his chair with a thin trickle of blood running from his neck. Wedge also saw a pair of legssticking through the windshield, with the rest of the body laying outside the vehicle.

Wedge noiced that one of the legs was still twitching. "Hey, are you alive?" Wedge's voice came out in a rasp.

"That you Wedge?" Hudson's voice came back.

Wedge felt a moment of relief, glad that he wasn't the only survivor. "Yeah, its me. What happened?"

Hudson twisted his body so that he could face Wedge through the windshield, a grunt of pain escaped as he did so. "Driver got killed and we crashed. I managed to fight off the rest of the enemy. What sort of shape you in?"

"I think my ribs might be broken, and my throat is dry as hell, but I'll live." Wedge told him.

Hudson nodded. "Think you can travel?"

"Yeah, I should be able to walk."

"Good. Look man, our best bet is to see if we can find one of our patrols in the area, get a ride back to base. But my legs are busted. I'm gonna need some help." Hudson said.

"Damnit." Wedge muttered, then to Hudson he said "I'm gonna see if I can get out through one of the doors."

"Understood." Hudson replied.

Wedge managed to maneuver himself to the rear passenger door, and to his relief it opened without much difficulty. Each movement caused a fresh wave of pain to roll through his side, but he was able to get through the door and onto his feet neverhteless.

"I'm out." Wedge declared as he made his way around to the front of the truck. He blinked in surprise as he saw a mound of half a dozen creatures roughly twenty yards away, all of them riddled with bullet holes.

"Alright, help me stand up." Hudson said.

Wedge nodded and kneeled down to help his companion. As he started to lift however a horrific lance of pain shot through him causing him to drop Hudson back down.

"Shit!" Hudson growled as his legs screamed in protest. "Be more careful man!"

"Sorry. Its my ribs." Wedge said apologeticly.

"Yeah?" Hudson asked.

"Yeah." Wedge confirmed.

Hudson blew out a long sigh. "Ok, if you can't help me up then we need something else."

"Such as?" Wedge asked.

"Ok, here's what I need you to do." Hudson started. "We have a stronger presence to the east of our present location. Head that way until you come across reinforcements. Once you do that you can send somebody back this way to pick me up while you head back to base to make your report."

Wedge didn't protest. That was their best shot at this point, or at least thats what all his training and experience told him.

"Ok, I can do that." Wedge said.

"Good, one more thing." Hudson pulled his assualt rifle off the ground and held it out towards Wedge. "Take this, you'll need the extra ammo if you run into monsters."

"Hold on." Wedge said. "I can't take your weapon! You'd be helpless if any more of those things showed up!"

"You idiot I know that." Hudson snapped. "But if you go out there without a gun right now and run into monsters you'll have to resort to melee combat, and in your present condition you couldn'tsurvive that way."

"Neither can you." Wedge pointed out.

"Again, I know that." Hudson said. "But if you die out there, then I'm gonna die here. But if I die you still have a shot at saving your own hide. Got it?"

Wedge nodded slowly. "Alright." He accepted the weapon.

"Don't worry, I've still got my sidearm."Hudson said, then handed a clip to Wedge. "Almost out of ammo in the current magazine, might want to swap it out for a fresh one." Wedge nodded and followed his intructions.

"Now get out of here." Hudson ordered. Wedge nodded, gave a stiff salute, then stood and walked away.

–

The Ragnorak slowly set down inside the Balamb Garden hangar, and shortly thereafter the ramp lowered and its occupants exited. Xu looked through a glass window as they made their way to the decontamination unit that had been set up. Xu payed close attention to the way they held themselves. Quistis and Cloud had both adopted stoic expressions, offering no clue as to what they were thinking. Selphie seened unable to hold back her tears as she walked, but refused to break down into sobs. Even Zell seemed subdued, his normally bouncy disposition completely absent. Rinoa held herself in an entirely different manner. She was rigid, her face a mask of barely contained fury.

Xu restrained the urge to gasp as three others walked into view. Seifer walked calmly looking uncharacteristicly serious. Behind him were Fujin and Raijin who for once weren't bickering. Xu's hand reached out and depressed a button in the console before her.

"This is Xu. I want a security team to report to the hangar observation deck at once." Xu said.

"Yes ma'am." The reply came over the speakers. Xu nodded and took her finger off the button before turning back to watch the others.

One by one they made their way through the deconamination untit and towards the stares that lead to the observation room where Xu waited. The door opened and they filtered in.

"Quistis," Xu greeted. "Nida contacted me on the way back, so I know whats happened."

"Is there any word on Squall?" Rinoa demanded before Quistis could respond.

Xu shook her head. "Nothing yet. If the galbadians found him they haven't told us."

Rinoa nodded stiffly, and said nothing else.

"I want everyone to go and get cleaned up, then report to my office in one hour. Seifer, Fuijin, Raijin, you stay here." Xu said. As quielty as they had entered the group filtered out until only Seifer and his friends were left with Xu.

"Long time no see, instructor." Seifer greeted, his old smirk adorning his features.

Xu's eyes narrowed. "You have some nerve coming back here."

"That so?" Seifer asked nonchalantly.

"You're a fugitive here." Xu announced, then turned her eyes to Fuijin and Raijin. "As are you two." It was at this point tat a trio of SeeDs entered the rooms, hands resting on their weapons, stoic expressions on their faces.

"Take them into custody." Xu ordered.

"Come on! That was a war ya know?" Raijin protested as one of the guars took his weapon.

"OVER." Fuijin agreed.

"If you were just an enemy operative back then maybe I'd agree. However, you were all once members of this Garden who turned traitor, and even with the war over we cannot disregard that." Xu declared.

"If thats the way you wanna do it." Seifer said reaching for his gunblade. In an instant two guns and a spear were pointed at him, their owners sinking into combat stances. "Relax." Seifer said with a roll of his eyes, and handed the weapon over to the nearest guard.

"You can lock us up if you like." He said to Xu. "But it'll be awfully hard to help you guys outfrom behind bars."

"We don't need help from the likes of you." Xu assured him.

"We'll see." Seifer said as the guards escorted him from the room. As they left Xucouldn't help but thinking that the way things were going, they were going to need all the help they could get.

–

Squall's eyes blinked open slowly. All he could see above him was a dull grey surface. He started to lift his head, and frowned as a wave of dizziness washed through him. He swiftly lowered his head back down onto what felt like a worn out pillow. As he waited for the dizziness to pass he became aware of a swaying motion. He frowned as he considered the implications. He was on a ship he decided. He opened his eyes and turned his head. He was in a cramped cell. A metal toilet occupied the corner next to a sink. Aside from the bed nothing else was in the room.

He recalled that the Galbadian navy had been blockading Balmb harbor, so this was probably one of their ships. But how had he arrived in this place? He focused on his most recent memories. He recalled running after the Ragnorak, a horde of monsters at his heel. He had jumped in a last ditch effort to get on board. He remembered the sensation of falling, and nothing beyond that.

I must have fallen into the ocean, he thought. From there the galbadians had likely found him and brought him aboard as a prisoner. Squall knew better than to think that they would let him go back to Garden. They would use him as a prisoner to force Balamb's surrender in the event time ran out before they could prove their innocence. They'd probably interrogate him about Balambs defensive capabilities.

"Great, just great." He muttered. He noticed to his dsipleasure that his weapon was missing, though he spposed that wasn't a surprise. He sat up as he heard noises from outside his cell. A moment later the door swung open, and a man dressed in the uniform of a Galbadian Air Force officer walked in flanked by two guards.

"Squall Leonhart I presume?" The man asked. Squall offered a nod in response. "I am Colonel Lewis of the Galbadian Air Force. I need you to come with me." A gesture from Lewis sent the two guards into action. They moved quickly and efficiently, though not overly rough, in securing his hands behind his back.

"Where are we going?" Squall asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"We are to escort you to Galbadian Garden on the orders of General Caston." Lewis explained.

Squall frowned. It would appear he had been wrong. They were going to let him go to Garden, just not the one he had hoped for. A moment later a helicopter lifted from the deck, and flew into the horizon.

–

Cloud made his way towards his room with a tired sigh. His first instinct was to throw himself ontto the bed, but he didn't have the time. He planned on attending the meeting Xu had called. After all, he was the only one who knew Sephiroth. He was the only one who understood his power. And if he planned on attending the meeting he needed to be presentable.

Cloud gave himself a quick look in the mirror in the bathroom. His clothes were torn in several places and stained with blood, some of it his own, but most of it was the black ooze that had come from the creatures he had killed. He checked in the closet for spare clothes. Inside the only outfits he could see was an odd looking dress uniform, and another outfit which consisted of a black jacket with silver lining, black pants, and a white undershirt. It looked a lot like the outfits he had seen some of the younger SeeDs wearing. He grabbed the pants and the shirt and the jacket, and made his way into the shower. Once he was out he dressed in his new clothes and slipped on his sword harness before equiping the Buster Sword.

A glance at the clock showed that he had ten minutes before the meeting. He realized then that he did not know where Xu's office was. With a sigh he set out into the halls and looked around for anyone who could be able to help. He did not have to look far, becaue Robby and Jenny were making their way down the hall towards him.

"Hey Cloud, we just heard you were back." Robby said, then glanced over Cloud's outfit. "That outfit does not suit you." He added.

"Do you know where Xu's office is?" Cloud asked bluntly.

"Actually were supposed to take you there." Jenny replied.

Upon seeing Cloud's questioning gaze Robby added "Are orders to keep an eye on you are still in effect."

"I see." Cloud said. "Lets go then."

–

Sephiroth stood calmly in the middle of the woods, surounded on all sides by his horrifying creations. He hardly notced them however. They were little more than tools, not worthy of his attention. Instead his attention was focused inwards. During his brief encounter with Squall and his friends, the Jenova cellsinside of Sephiroth had managed to absorb quite a bit of information. Perhaps the most of interesting of that information had to do with that girl, Rinoa. He had been curious about her magical powers at first, but had dismissed them as he hadn't had any means to investigate them with. That had changed now. Now he knew what she was, where her powers had come from, and exactly where to go to learn everything he could ever want about the powers of a Sorceress. Sephiroth slowly stood and gestured for the creatures to come closer.

As they did he gestured to one that still wore a tattered cowboy hat. "You will be accopanying me on my current endeavour." The creature rose to an upright position, having maintained its original humanoid shape despite the mutations. A sturdy gun was still clutched by one hand. The creature walked to Sephiroth's side.

"Get read, Edea." Sephiroth said with a smile, then in a swirl of darkness he and the creaure vanished.


	19. Chapter 19

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:Hey guys. I know its been a while since the last update. I've been a bit occupied mentally lately, as I'm at the stage of my life where I have to plan my future. To make up for the delay, I have prepared a nice long chapter. I apologise for any spelling errors ahead of time. My spellchecker isn't working properly right now so I couldn't be as thorough as I wanted.

* * *

Chapter 19

Robby and Jenny led Cloud to Xu's office, and stood outside the door while he entered. Xu sat behind a large wooden desk with a number of papers arranged in neat stacks before her. On the other side of the desk Quistis, Selphie, Zell, and Rinoa sat. Quistis was calm and composed, ready to deal with the buisness at hand. Selphie still had a melancholy air about her, but she was keeping control over herself. Zell seemed anxious, and kept shifting in his seat. Rinoa had a purposefully neutral air about her, but the slight quiver of her arms, and the slightest twitching of her facial muscles and hard steel in her eyes betrayed the thunderstorm of negative emotions swirling about inside her.

Xu, completely unreadable, gestured at the remaining empty chair. "Cloud, we've been waiting for you."

Cloud nodded and sat in the offered chair.

"Good," Xu said. "Now we can get this meeting underway. At the moment we have three major concerns. Galbadia is the first of these. At the moment we have less than ten hours before they declare war on us. You also know that they have captured Commander Leonhart. Our second concern is the plague which is turning people into monsters. This plague is spreading at an alarming rate. Our limited intel suggests that this plague is already spreading through Timber. Finally there is a man by the name of Sephiroth." At this she looked to Cloud. "I have invited Cloud here because he seems to know a great deal about this man. Now that thats out of the way, we need to determine what courses of action to take."

"Isn't it obvious?" Rinoa asked coldly. "We need to get Squall back."

Xu looked towards her. "While we understand your feelings we can't let our emotions effect our judgement. To much is at stake."

"I know that." Rinoa said, eyes narrowing. "There are good reasons to get Squall back. As long as the galbadians have him they have leverage over Garden. Leverage they can use against us to force a surrender in the event that war breaks out."

Xu frowned at Rinoa. "Commander Leonhart has done a lot for this Garden and the world at large, and if an opportunity to get him back presents itself we will take it. But he is not a priority right now. If the Galbadians try to use him as leverage they will find it ineffective."

Rinoa gasped. "You mean we'd abandon him."

"If it came to that." Xu's voice was hard as steel.

Quistis quickly stepped in before the mounting storm in Rinoa could unleash itself. "There is another danger. If they interrogate Squall they could gain dangerous information to use against us."

"That is true." Xu admitted. "Its doubtful that they could gain anything useful before the timer reaches zero."

"They could always delay there attack until they do have solid intel." Cloud interjected. "I don't think theres any rules saying you have to attack as soon as you declare war."

"Good point." Rinoa added.

"So we should attack now right? Get Squall back?" Zell asked.

"Not necessarily." Came the reply. "If we attack before time runs out we'll only be inviting a counter-attack that we aren't prepared to deal with. If we are unable to avoid war however I think we can all agree our first action will be to rescue Commander Leonhart." She was met with nods of greement by her fellow SeeDs. Cloud didn't add his opinion.

"Theres also the matter of the civilians we rescued from Balamb, including my Ma." Zell piped up.

"Balamb Garden is on the verge of war. This isn't a safe place for them." Quistis agreed,

Xu nodded. "Any suggestions?"

There was a moment of silence before Cloud said. "Why don't you send them to Fishermans horizon?"When he was met with several stares he explained himself. "Unless the books I read were badly mistaken it is apart of the Balamb nation."

"On paper it is, but in practice Balamb and Fishermans horizon tend to ignore eachother. The leadership of Fishermans horizon disagreed with Balamb's decision to house Garden because they felt it invited unneeded conflict."

"Its still a good idea. The mayor wouldn't turn away refugees from a potential warzone." Quistis said.

Xu quickly wrote something on a piece of paper before looking up. "Once this meeting is over I'll arrange transport and some guards for them."

"Yo, good thinking Cloud." Zell congradulated. Cloud quietly accepted the praise.

"As far as the plague goes, we don't have any idea how to cure it. We have Doctor Kadowaki researching a sample of contaminated tissue, but nothing so far. I think we should send a sample to Esthar for study. Their research stations are much more advanced than ours."

"Are you kidding!" Rinoa stood from her seat. "Doctore Odine is a madman remember? Do you really want him to have access to this?"

Selphie spoke up for the first time since the metting started. " Laguna would keep him in line."

"I'm inclined to agree with Rinoa." Quistis said.

"I understand your concerns, but we need help on this one. Right now this plague threatens Galbadia's interests. If we find a cure we could negotiate a peace." Xu reminded them.

Cloud frowned. He didn't know anything about this Odine person they mentioned, but surely these people could see the threat the palgue presented. He decided to voice his opinion. "I don't know about this Odine person, but you've seen the threat the palgue presents. I think if somebody can help cure it, we should leap on the chance."

"Exactly." Xu agreed.

"I get that, but it just seems like a bad move." Quistis said.

Xu nodded. "I don't necessarily disagree with you. But for now its our best option." After a pause she continued with "That leads us to our last topic. The man known as Sephiroth. Zell, Rinoa, I understand you perssonaly encountered Sephiroth."

"Not really. The guy ambushed us and knocked us out before we even really knew he was there." Zell replied.

"We didn't regain conciousness until after Squall and Seifer fought him off." Rinoa added.

Cloud's eyes widened slightly. Squall had been able to fend off Sephiroth? Even with help Cloud had hard time swallowing that. He knew Squall was very skilled, but to face Sephiroth and survive required more than simple skill.

"We should question Seifer regarding Sephiroth's abilities." Quistis decided.

"Thats why we have Cloud here." Xu told her.

"I'll give you all the information I can." Cloud assured them.

Xu nodded. "We already know of his shapeshifting abilities from when Commander Leonhart first questioned you. We need to know about his other abilities, specificly those pertaining to combat."

Cloud stood from his chair and began to pace as he collected his thoughts. "If theres one thing that can be said for Sephiroth's abilities, its that he has variety. He posseses the ability to generate illusions so powerful that they can be mistaken for reality, and that multiple people could be in the same room as each other and be completely oblivious to the fact. He also has the powers of flight and teleportation."

"Thats how he ambushed us in Balamb!" Zell exclaimed.

Cloud nodded. "Beyond that his arsenal of magical abilities is very potent, including several spells I've never seen anyone or anything else use. He can utilize certain ranged attacks by channeling spirit energy through his sword when he swings it. Beyond lies his swordsmanship. In my world nobody could even come close to matching his skill with a blade. Couple that with immense speed and strength and you can see how he became the most famous member of SOLDIER. Thats all that I'm aware of."

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed what Cloud had told them. Finally Selphie asked "So what are we supposed to do about a guy like that?"

"Normally I would say we should throw everything we have his way and not let up until he was dead. However, Sephiroth seems to be the key to all our problems right now." Xu said.

Cloud stopped pacing and frowned. He didn't like where this was going. "What do you mean?"

"Galbadia thinks Sephiroth is one of our agents. If we kill him we won't be able to prove otherwise." Xu explained.

Cloud's blood ran cold. "You mean to take him alive." It was more an accusation than a question.

"Yes. If all we have is his corpse Galbadia might think we simply killed one of our own to save the rest of Garden. If he's alive they can interrogate him and find out otherwise. Thats our best bet to avoid war." Xu watched Cloud closely as she spoke. Cloud's fists clenched, and his teeth were grinding so hard it was almost audible. The others all looked towards him, as if sensing his building rage.

"You can't do that." Cloud said, struggling to keep his voice calm. "Sephiroth is to powerful to be taken alive!"

"He was driven back in Balamb." Quistis pointed out.

Cloud's gaze shot to her so fast nobody even saw the movement. "Thats because when Squall and Seifer attacked they did so without restraint. They intended to kill. When you try to take somebody alive you have to restrain yourself from using potentially fatal attacks, thus limiting your ability to handle your opponent." Cloud's voice rose slightly in volume as he continued. "Frankly, I doubt all of you working together could take Sephiroth down at all, never mind if you have to hold back!"

"Thats enough." Xu's voice was cold as ice. "True Sephiroth is dangerous, but without him war with Galbadia is inevitable. Thats a war we can't hope to win, it would be a slaughter."

"Galbadia is nothing next to Sephiroth!" Cloud growled taking a step towards her desk.

"Maybe where you're from he was a great threat, and I certainly believe he's a threat here to." Now Xu's own voice began to raise, and she stood from her chair. "But here things are different! Sephiroth may be powerful but he doesn't compare with the combined firepower of one of the largest miliatries in the world. After Galbadia has a chance to interrogate him him can be dealt with more permanently."

"Thats not good enough! You have to go at him with everything you have!" Cloud was almost shouting. Desperation miexed with anger. How come these people didn't see the true danger Sephiroth represented? They had seen the virus, some of them had even encountered him. So why didn't they see?

"We can't allow a war to happen if we can avoid it. Sephiroth is our ticket out." Quistis added.

"Besides that, once Galbadia confirms Sephiroth isn't in league with Balamb they won't have any grounds to hold Squall on." Rinoa added. Zell and Selphie nodded in agreement.

Cloud felt a chill spreading through him as he saw the resolve growing in this group, and he understood. He understood why they were so blind. This was a group of people who were accustomed to success. They went into a situation with the expecation that their best effort would be sufficient to get the job done. And why not? They had succeeded in their past battles, and demonstrated a great deal of skill in battle. They couldn't know the danger they faced because they had never faced it something like it before. They had never faced a foe who knew them better than they knew themselves. A foe who could effortlessely anticipate their every move, and perfectly manipulate their every decision. How could they recognize that which they had never seen?

"I understand." He muttered bitterly. Without another word he turned and stormed from the office. It was clear that these people could not help him.

–

Caston sat in his office, ignoring a growing case of eye-strain as he read through the latest batch of reports from the field commanders. The plague and its monsters were spreading fast. A number of troops had been diverted in an effort to contain the spread. As a result the fight with Timber had taken yet another negative turn, as Galbadia no longer had enough troops on that front to press the attack. The enemy was using this as a chance to regroup and solidify their defenses. Not good, Caston thought.

Still, they had captured Commander Leonhart of Balamb. He doubted they could use him as leverage against Balamb Garden, but with Rinoa Heartily being who she was it was always a possibility. He did think it would be possible to gain useful info from the SeeD Commander. A small part of his mind whispered that perhaps it would be better to look for a way to avoid conflict altogether with Balamb. He came down hard on that whisper in an effort to crush it. All available evidence suggested that Balamb was in league with their enemies. If he didn't act on that info the results could be disastrous, he told himself. What if that info is wrong, the whisper asked. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility that the current tension between Balamb and Galbadia was the result of a misunderstanding, as Balamb claimed. But what were the chances?

"Damnit." He sighed quietly and rested his head in his hands. In the end he supposed it really wasn't up to him. The President's orders stood. Besides, while it was possible Balamb was innocent it was far more likely they were acting against Galbadia. Afterall, they did have a rather recent history of voilence with each other.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in." He ordered. The door swung open to reveal a soldier who snapped off a quick salute.

"Sir, I've just received word that Commander Leonhart will be arriving in twenty minutes sir!" The man reported.

Caston nodded. "Thank you private. Dismissed." Caston said. The man saluted again, and left. Caston leaned back in his chair. Maybe Squall could shed some light on Caston's concerns.

–

Almost as soon as he arrived Squall was lead into a classic interrogation cell and left by himself. His instincts told him he was being watched through the one-way mirror. The observation continued for several moments before he felt that something had changed. Sure enough a few moments later the door to the room opened and General Caston himself stepped in. The man carried a serious, even grim air about him. His expression was unreadable.

Caston moved to sit opposite Squall. "Commander Leonhart. We have a great deal to discuss."

Squall eyed him without expression. "Yes, we do."

"Then lets get down to buisness. Recently we received warning from Balamb Garden of a plague headed our way. That you warned us tells me that this plague is not a deliberate attack on your part. Nevertheless I would like to know exactly where it comes from."

Squall waited a moment before responding, trying to decide how much he should reveal. Finally he said "We don't know its exact origin. We suspect it has something to do with the man called Sephiroth."

"I see." Caston said. "Our intelligence suggests that Sephiroth is one of your agents, as you well know. So are you saying this plague is a deliberate act?"

"Sephiroth is not affiliated with Balamb, he is an independent party." Squall replied.

"So you say. However no evidence has been provided in support of this claim." Caston reminded him.

"Fine, lets suppose for the sake of argument that Sephiroth does work with us. Why would we make such a virus and release it in our own territory?" Squall asked.

Caston shrugged. "Perhaps you didn't intend to release it when you did. Perhaps there was an accident in the lab and it escaped before you were ready."

Squall resisted the urge to frown. While he knew otherwise, Caston's version of things did make sense, which meant convincing him otherwise would be difficult. "But then why warn you about it. If it was meant to attack you, but got out early, wouldn't it make more sense to keep it to ourselves?"

Caston nodded. "Perhaps so. So perhaps Sephiroth isn't on your side. What leads you to believe he is responsible in that case?"

Squall did frown now. "We have recently encountered an agent who has prior experience with Sephiroth. Our theories are based on information he provided."

Caston leaned forward with interest. "Now we're getting somewhere. Does this agent have a name?"

"His perssonal information is confidential."

"Ah." Caston's eyes narrowed slightly. "A mysterious informant whose name you can't provide. Sounds like a fabrication to me."

"He is real." Squall insisted calmly.

"I would like to speak with this man." Caston said.

Squall cast a small glance around the room, and a twinkle of amusement hit his eye as he said "It might be difficult to arrange that from my current position."

"We can always contact Garden." Caston reminded him. "Now, I believe that is all for now."

As Caston got up to leave Squall said "Garden isn't the enemy General. But Sephiroth is."

"If your information checks out, perhaps then I shall agree." Caston declared, and turned away.

–

Wedge wasn't sure how long he'd been walking by the time a military convoy came into view. He hadn't directly encountered anymore of the creatures, but he had heard them in the distance from time to time. Never close by however. When the convoy finally did come into view, and it was close enough for Wedge to identify it as being such, he found himself moving at a jog towards it. The convoy consisted of two light armoured vehicles, one at the front and back of the convoy. In between were five trucks loaded with crates and the like with armed guards sitting in the back. Probably a supply convoy then. The group was sitting in the middle of the road. As he approached he heard a single gunshot ring out, and a plume of dirt shot into the air next to him.

"Hold it right there!" One of the troops had stood from his seat and hud his gun aimed squarely at Wedge. "That was your one warning shot, the next ones going right between your eyes!"

"Hold your fire!" Wedge cried hoarsely. "I'm on your side!"

"Identify yourself!"

"I'm Wedge of the fifteenth regiment of alpha division!" Wedge shouted back. "Who're you with?"

The man lowered his weapon and stepped from the back of the truck. A number of other troops watched the exchange closely.

"Lieutenant Anderson of the 3rd suppy battalion." The man said as he approached Wedge. "Heard your group got wiped out."

Wedge nodded. "Most of us did. Couple of us got out. Another survivor is back there a ways." He gestured the way he'd come.

Anderson peered out into the distance as he replied. "Things are pretty dangerous right now. Can't take the risk of going off-road. We've had report of new types of monsters tearing up entire squads with ease."

"I know sir, thats what got us. But my friend needs help." Wedge said. "I promised I'd send somebody back for him."

"I see." Anderson sighed. "My groups not outfitted for combat or rescue operations, and we got a tight schedule to keep."

Wedge realized with a growing sense of dread that this man wasn't ggoing to help. Oh he was sure Anderson would let him tag along with their group, get him water and fresh ammo. But Hudson was to far out of the way. But Wedge wasn't going to let him down.

"Ok. Then can you spare a little ammo, some water, and some potions?" Wedge asked.

Anderson eyed him appraisingly, then cast a look over his shoulder. "Rick! Get a canteen of water, two ammo clips, and two potions, and get your as over here!"

"Thank you sir." Wedge said, with a feeling of relief.

"I understand how things are. You gotta friend to help. I can't spare much, but I see your look. I doubt you'd take no for an anwser on this one."

"Your probably right sir." Wedge said.

As rick came over and handed Wedge the requested supplies Anderson saluted him. "Good luck soldier. Once you find your friend head for Jerrey town. The 2nd artillery battalion is setting up shop there, could probably use extra hands."

"Thank you again sir." Wedge turned and started back the way he'd come.

–

The shadows in this room are deep, for it is evening in this part of the world. The room has not been used in years, but it is well maintained by the occupants of this old structure. Parts of this building have been repaired, made suitable for living. But not this room. This room, though maintained, still sits with cracks in the floor and ceiling, and a hole in one wall. At one point the laughter and cries of children echoed in this room. Whispered secrets had been traded amongst giggling youth, and boistress conversations had been had. Now, the room was still, and the only noise was the distant sound of waves lapping at the shore. This room held innocence, it held memories of goodness.

But tonight this room does not carry that same joy, nor its memory. In the shadows that rule it a figure takes shape, and another. The first stands tall, with a pride bordering on arrogance. Behind this figure another, human like, but twisted. The moonlight that bled through the hole in the wall cast shadows. The proud mans shadow twistted across the various surfaces of the room, seeming all consuming. Next to it, the others shadow seemed small, frightened, and pitiful.

From another room comes sounds. A mans voice says something. A woman laughs. The sounds of silverware clinking on plates can be heard. The first figure smiles in a way only it can. A curious blend of arrogance, malevolent cruelty, and absolute calm. The figures advance forth, towards those who wait further inside. Towards those who suspect nothing, and are concerned only at the possibility of rain. The figures pass through the doorway leaving absolute stillness behind.

The shadows in this room are deep.


	20. Chapter 20

**FINAL FANTASY VII-VIII**

**TWO WORLDS**

* * *

AN:New chapter. Not much to say really other than hope you enjoy, and please leave reviews. To nthose who ahve reviewed, thank you veyr much. Every piece of praise and constructive critisism I recieve motivate me to work harder.

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Chapter 20

Cloud paced the confines of his room with a single-minded relentlessness that would have baffled most people. His face had adopted that oddly tight expression that indicated barely controlled anger. Robby and Jenny stood outside his door, using a borrowed table on which to play a card game which Cloud didn't recognize. That mattered little as he hardly cared at the moment. These people honestly thought that Sephiroth could be caught, that he could be taken prisoner against his will. He couldn't fault them for this, they lacked his experience in the matter, but that didn't mean he was happy about it.

But what could he do about it? He could go after Sephiroth alone, but he didn't exactly have the resources to do so. Furthermore he doubted he could take Sephiroth alone. Cloud was good, the equal of any First Class, but Sephiroth was in an entirely different league. So, he'd need both a means of transportation, and somebody good enough to back him up. He scoffed. That wasn't to likely he thought. Garden had the only vehicles for miles, and none of the SeeDs would help him. Hell, the only person who might was locked in the brig.

Cloud stopped pacing, a thought blooming in his mind. As his thoughts began to take a solid form he made his way over to his sword and placed it on the magnetic holder on his back. That done he opened the door.

"Oh hey, Cloud." Robby said as he looked up. "You wanna join our game?"

"No thanks." Cloud replied. "Actually I wanted to spend some time in your training center."

"We can do that, but do you mind if we finish this round first?" Jenny asked.

"Go ahead." Cloud gestured for them to continue, and watched with half-hearted interest. Meanwhile he contemplated everything he knew of the Garden's layout, and the combat abilities of its occupants. One miscalculation could end in disaster. Eventually Jenny won the game, and much to Robby's dismay proceeded to claim his tonberry card.

"Damnit! Thats my best card." Robby grumbled.

"No, its my best card." Jenny corrected with a playful smile. Maybe later you can win it back, or mayble I'll take your Ifrit, either way its about time we took Cloud to the training center."

"Fine, fine. Lead the way." Robby said.

–

Hudson had tried to stay awake, fully aware that any lapse in his awareness could lead to death. The pain had served as a distraction from his fatigue for a time. It had given him something to focus on other than his increasingly heavy eye-lids. A slow numbess crept up through his legs, removing the sensation of pain. Then it became a matter of willpower and sheer determination. For a time, that was good enough. But with a slow inevitability his eyes slowly sealed themselves to the world before him. His mind filled with the fog of sleep and dreams.

He dreamt of all kinds of things. Being chased through school halls by a clown, his little sisters birthday party, his girlfriend on the beach, a bird with sunglasses. Many of these things went by before he really understood them. He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been drifting before he felt a shaking sensation. His eyes eased open and he looked up at the one who had waken him up.

"Hey man, you still alive?" Wedge asked.

"Last time I checked." Hudson responded. "You get help?"

"Not in the way you were hoping." Wedge muttered as he produced a potion. "Drink this."

Hudson complied with the order. The liquid tasted truly vile, as if somebody had poured a large quantity of salt into normal cold medication. Still, it was worth it. The bones in his legs began knitting together at an impressive rate, sending waves of pain rolling all the way up his spine. He tried to suppress a pained yell, and managed to prevent all but a groan. The sensation passed, and after a moment he was able to stand.

"Thanks man." Hudson said as he took stock of his surroundings. "Where did you find the potion?"

"Supply convoy." Wedge responded. "They didn't have time to send anyone over here, but they spared some supplies."

Hudson nodded. "Well I hope they sent water, my throats dry as a desert."

Wedge nodded and offered him the canteen slung over his shoulder. Hudson nodded his thanks and took a drink.

"Ok, we should get moving. Some of our troops are posted at Jerrey Town. We hurry and we might be ble to hook up with them." Wedge said.

Hudson replaced the cap on the canteen. "Good thinking, lets get moving." He started to walk, and stumbled as a lance of pain shot through his legs. Wedge caught him as he stumbled.

"Guess that potion didn't repair all the damage." Wedge muttered. "Here, I'll help you walk."

"Great." Hudson groaned. "You better not tell anyone about this."

Wedge smiled just a little. "My lips are sealed."

–

Caston had barely gotten back to his office before a nervous private had delivered the latest reports from the field. As he scanned over them he discerned one major fact that stood above all the others. The virus was spreading fast, and there was no way he could rally enough troops in time to stop it from overrunning all of Timber. That was unaccaptable. Regardless of the rebellion Timber was undergoing, there were still countless innocent civilians living within its borders. At the rate things were going most of them would be dead or worse within the week.

In a matter of seconds his mind went over a list of possible options, eliminating them one by one until only one remained. He sat slowly in his chair as he rolled that one option in his mind. There really wasn't any other choice, he knew. He let out a weary sigh, forced the fatigue from his mind, and picked up the phone.

A moment after he dialed the presidents number, Calloway anwsered. "General Caston, how may I help you?"

" I trust you've already been faxed the latest reports?" Caston asked.

"I have. Things aren't looking good out there." Calloway replied.

Caston resisted the urge to snort. That was a huge understatement. "I am in full agreement sir, which is why I am calling you. I have a plan, but I need your authorisation to do it."

"I see. What precisely is it you have in mind?"

Caston took a deep breath. "I propose fire-bombing the infected areas, wipe out everything."

There was a moment of silence. "You know what you're asking?"

"Yes Mr. President."

"How many people are still in those areas?"

Caston's eyes briefly scanned over the papers before him. "The 2nd artillery battallion at Jerrey Town, the 3rd suppy battalion on route to Jerrey Town, and two platoon's placed near the woods south of Grisdul. In addition to any surviving civillians in the area."

"How long would it take to evacuate everyone?" Calloway asked.

"To long. But if we don't were gonna lose Timber as a whole." Caston hoped his voice carried the urgency he felt.

A tired sigh from the other end of the line. "How much time can you spare?"

"Three hours."

"Alright, you have authorization, but do everything you can to get our people out."

"Understood Mr. President." The line went dead. Caston sighed and sank into his chair. He knew that their people couldn't get out, it would take more time than they had just to get their gear ready to leave. He shook his head and stood. He had preperations to make.

–

The Buster Sword descended in a wide arc and cleaved deeply into the flesh of a grat, a strange plant like creature that Garden used for training purposes. The creature twitched once, then lay still on the ground. Cloud blew out a sigh and withdrew his blade, turning to look at Robby and Jenny. Robby was in the process of casting a cure spell on Jenny, who in turn had just shot another grat to pieces.

Cloud made a show of wiping sweat from his brow before sheathing his blade. He observed as his escorts put away their own weapons before turning to face him.

"Jeez, you took down three of those things already? It took us this long to kill just two, while working together." Robby said trying to catch his breath.

Cloud shrugged. In actuality the monsters had provided little challenge, but fighting them had provided two benefits. First was that his muscles were now nice and loose. The second was he now had a much better idea of Robby and Jenny's abilities. Robby was quick and agile, preffering to launch a quick attack then move out of range. Jenny seemed to be fire from a stationary position, as opposed to the run and gun style.

"Yeah well, guess I'm just having a good day." Cloud said.

"I'll say, we've mopped up three groups and you're just now wearing out." Jenny muttered.

Cloud nodded, then paused is if a thought had come to him. "Hey, do you suppose I could speak with Seifer?"

"Seifer?" Robby seemed surprised.

"Why would you want to talk to him?" Jenny added.

"He's fought Sephiroth, I want to compare notes." Cloud explained.

The two SeeD's nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I suppose you could chat with him." Robby decided. The walk to the detention area wasn't a particularly long one, and before long they came to a security desk. An older man in a SeeD uniform sat behind the desk. Behind the desk was a hallway on either side of the room leading further into the building.

"Hey John, we're here to speak with Seifer." Jenny said.

"Are you now?" John leaned back. "Don't seem to remember you two knowin' him that well."

Robby stepped forward. "Cloud here wants to speak with him regarding a mutual acquaintance."

John nodded. "I see." He looked to Cloud. "Lose somebody because of him did you?"

"Nothing like that." Cloud assured him. "Just looking into the whereabouts of our acquaintance."

"Alright then. Thats fine. He and his buddies are in cell 13, the hall to the right."

Cloud nodded and started forward.

"Ah ah, you gotta leave that cleavfer of your here." John said sternly.

Cloud paused. Relinquishing his weapon at this stage would be inconvienient, but it would be easily retrieved. Without a word he offered his weapon to John, who then placed it behind his desk. Cloud walked quietly and calmly with his escorts following at a respectable distance.

Finally he reached the cell and say the man he sought within. Seifer sat on the bed looking generally irritated with life in general. Fuijin had adopted the far corner and looked equally unamused. Raijin occupied the side of the cell across from Seifer, fidgeting.

"Seifer, I'd like a word."

Seifer looked up with a scowl on his face. "Oh yeah? I hope it involves me getting a bigger cell."

"SMALL." Fuijin declared, gesturing from her corner of the cell.

"Its ridiculous, ya know?" Raijin added.

"Seriously, at least give us seperate cells so we have some breathing room at least." Seifer directed this comment more at the SeeD's behind Cloud than Cloud himself.

"I'll mention the idea to John on the way out." Jenny told him. Seifer snorted and leaned back.

Cloud moved close to the bars and spoke quietly so only Seifer could hear. "What if I said I could do away with the cells altogether?"

Seifer was suddenly very serious. "I would ask how?" Seifer whispered back. "And more importantly, whats the catch?"

Speaking a bit more loudly Cloud said "You fought Sephiroth right?"

"Dude with long silver hair, even more ridiculous sword than yours? Yeah, I fought him, didn't go very well."

Cloud lowered his voice again. "If I get you guys out, I want you to help me find and kill him."

Seifer chuckled. "Really, thats all?"

"After that you go wherever, do whatever, I don't care. But first you help me with him." Cloud said more forcefully."

"I suppose we could have a deal, provided you have a way to get us out. We're locked in you know." Seifer gestured at the bars. Cloud smiled.

"Hey, what are you guys whispering about?" Robby asked.

"Nothing to important." Cloud said turning around.

"In that case, think you could speak up. We're feeling a litte left out." Jenny added.

Cloud moved. Worn out as they were from training, neither of them were able to react in time to avoid a punch directly to the point of the chin. Cloud caught them as they slumped back, and lowered them noiselessly to the floor.

"Nice." Seifer said with a small clap. "Now actually get us out."

Cloud reached out and grabbed the bars. It took a bit more effort than he expected to bend them wide enough for Seifer and his friends to get out. He did expect the sounds of protest the metal made however, and he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised by the alarm that went off.

"Whoa, you're strong ya know?" Raijin followed Seifer out the door.

Cloud didn't really hear, as he had already turned and bolted back towards the security office. John rounded the corner just as Cloud reached it, double barreled shotgun in hand. He never had a chance. A single palm strike launched backwards to crash gainst a wall. Cloud was fairly sure he'd live, but quickly checked his pulse. Nice and steady.

Seifer quickly made his way to the wall besides the desk where a row of lockes sat in a neat line. A moment later he had retrieved his weapon, and wa spassing Fuijin and Raijin there weapons. Cloud took this moment to retrieve the buster sword.

"Now we nee to get to the garage, we can take a car from there and make our way to Fishermans Horizon and acquire a boat. Then we can go wherever we need to." Cloud said quickly.

"Not a bad plan." Seifer admitted. "Lets not sit around, we got maybe a minute before half of SeeD is crawling down our throats."

"Yeah." Cloud agreed.

Cloud and Seifer ran in front, with Fuijin and Seifer taking the rear as they ran out onto the main ring and moved towards the hall that led to the garage. They were maybe half-way there when they met their first trace of resistance. Three SeeD's ran forward to meet them, weapons in hand.

Cloud didn't even bother to slow down. He brought his sword around in a broadside strike that launched the first SeeD off his feet and into the water beside the walkway. The second in line swung her katana at his head, but he ducked under her blow and dealt an eblwo strike to her chest throwing her to the floor. The third hurled a Thunder spell at Cloud which he blocked with his sword. Seifer sprang forward and slashed the mans arm before kicking him out of the way.

The whole thing took perhaps three seconds. They turned into the hallway leading to their destination, and promptly slid to a stop. Quistis stood blocking hall, weapon in hand.

"I hope you have a good explanation for this." Quistis said, an uncharacteristic hardness entering her voice.

"I'm taking the fight to Sephiroth, since you guys aren't willing to do what it takes." Cloud said calmly.

"We're just getting outta here, ya know?' Raijin added.

"LEAVING." Fuijin stated simply.

Quistis shook her head and addressed Cloud. "Nobody's gotten killed so far, so why don't you just put down your weapons and we can discuss this."

Cloud felt his fight or flight instincts kicking in, and he could tell by the expression on Zell's face that the mako glow in his eyes had grown stronger. He was also aware of the building power of his limit break rising up, and of the light swirls of spirit energy around his blade threatening a release of power.

"You're right. So far nobodies been killed." Cloud looked Quistis in the eye. "I'd prefer to keep it that way."

Quistis held his stare for several seconds, but ultimately Cloud won out, and she stepped aside. "Fine, you can go."

Cloud nodded, and he and Seifer, Fuijin, and Raijin sprinted past. A few moments later Quistis heard the sound of a motor starting, and after that they were gone.

–

Cid and Edea had just been sitting down for dinner when Edea first became aware that something was wrong. She wasn't sure what tipped her off. Maybe simple intuition, or the faint remnants of power leftover from her time as a sorceress. Perhaps it was a slight change in the air, or some new smell just on the edge of perception. In truth it mattered little, she knew now. Her fork, wrapped in long strand of noodles, paused halfway to her mouth as she scanned the room. Now that she focused it became obvious to her. The room felt wrong. She wasn't sure what was wrong, but she knew it was. She was certain beyond any doubt, things were not the way they were supposed to be.

Cid noticed as she shifted uncomfortably. "Is something wrong dear?"

"I'm not sure." She said in reply. Her eyes could detect nothing wrong.

Cid, knowing that his wifes senses shouldn'tbe underestimated, sat forward paying closer attention to his surroundings.

"Its like somethings out of place. Not enough to tell what it is, but enough to know that it is." She tried to explain, then frowned. "That doesn't make much sense does it?"

"No, it makes sense." Cid stood from his chair and began to walk around the room. "Then we should look to see if we can tell whats wrong?"

Edea also stood and began to carefully examine the room. She began to become aware that her feelings of unease grew stronger the closer she got to the doorway leading into the room where children had slept when this place had been an orphanage.

"Cid, I think theres something wrong over here." A moment of silence passed before she looked over her shoulder. Cid was examining the wall near the main door.

"Cid." Edea said. He seemed to ignore her, as if he didn't hear her. She started towards him, then let out a startled cry as with a shimmer he seemed to vanish from the room, and suddenly she was all alone. She slowly backed up, looking all around at shadows that seemed deeper now, than they had earlier, more threatening. She placed her back against the wall and looked out at the room, aware now of a presence looming over her, watching her. Mocking her. The shadows closed on her until she could see very little, except she thought, a brief glimpse of glowing green eyes, like those of a cat.

Then, that presence spoke. "Hello, Edea."

"Whose there!" She called, feeling angry at herself for the fear that showed in her voice.

A flash of white consumed the room before fading away. When it did the shadows had gone back to their corners. She could see Cid now, and that was a relief of sorts. But he didn't see her. He was looking everywhere, and he seemed to be yelling, but she couldn't hear him. He ran to another room franticly. She started to follow.

"A moment of your time." The voice spoke again, and she found herself unable to continue after her husband. Instead she turned as she became aware of something behind her. There was a flickering light in the shape of a man. Slowly it resolved into a tall individual with long silver hair, and dressed in black leather clothing.

"I require some information from you." The man said calmly.

"Whats going on? Why can't my husband see me?" Edea demanded.

The man shrugged. "I simply don't want him interfering in our buisness."

"What buisness would that be?" She asked.

"I want to understand the powers of a sorceress. I want to understand their strength, and their weakness. But most of all, I wish to understand the nature of their power." The man explained. There was hungry look to his eyes as he talked.

Edea frowned, a feeling of dread rising in her. "Why would you want to know that?"

"Curiosity." The man said nonchalantly.

"I refuse. I won't tell you." Edea declared.

An amused twinkle entered the mans eye as Cid came back into the room. "Is that right?" In an instant he was beside Cid, an almost absurdly long sword now grasped in his hands. Cid seemed to freeze midstep and lift into the air, letting out an alarmed cry. Edea's eyes widened. She could hear him now.

"Humans are fragile creatures." The tip of his blade moved making a shallow cut on Cid's arm. Cid jerked, now crying out in pain as blood quickly began to soak his sleeve and drip down his arm.

"Stop!" Edea roared. She felt her little remaining strength surge up and manifest in a Blizzard spell. The blast of frozen energy dissipated harmlessely against a shimmering barrier, a mere two feet short of its target.

"Interesting." the man said. "It seems some degree of your power remains. But not nearly enough to challenge me. Tell me what I wish to know." The blade shifted, the edge angled towards Cid, whose voice was once more drowned out.

Edea felt true fear rush through her whole being. She had no choice. Her powers were limited to basic spells, and it was clear that that was nothing to this foe. But maybe if she gave him what he wanted, he would leave them in peace. But the dangers involved with that were great. A man of this power could only be seeking such knowledge for a few reasons. Among those would be the knowledge of how to destroy a sorceress, like Rinoa.

The man saw her indecision. "Still undecided? Very well." He gestured, and from the shadows marched a truly twisted creature. Savage and vicious looking, with sharp claws and teeth. And also very familiar.

"Irvine?" Edea asked in horror. The thing made a pitiful mewling noise.

"Perhaps your cooperation can bring your friend some peace." The monster, for a man of such cruelty was surely not human, before her said.

Edea felt numb. She felt like she was missing something. Many things in fact. How was it that Irvine stood before her as a mutated creature, who was this man before her. Why was this happening? She wasn't conciously aware of speaking. Of telling this man what she knew. How Hyne had supposedly created mankind. The sorceress line had descended from him. She spoke of how they passed powers on one to the next. The man listened with an almost bored expression.

"Thats all?" He asked, then gave an exasperated sigh. "Very well, you may keep your friend."

The Irvine thing moved away from the man and sat near Edea, Cid lowered to the ground. For a moment Edea began to relax.

Steel descended in a lightning swift arc, and a crimsom spray filled the air before Edea's eyes. What, she thought. Immense pain filled her, followed by a renewed numbness. Her legs buckled and she fell. As everything ent by in slow motion she saw the cruel smile on the mans lips, the maniacal glee in his eyes, and she heard his laugh. If her rage in that moment could have been made manifest, the gods themselves would have feared her, and the source of her anger would have melted away like wax under a fire. But she was without power. Her anger was useless, her rage impotent. And that dmeon before her knew it, and he was laughing at her. Openly now. She hit the ground, and was able to watch through blurring vision as the mans boots turned, and he walked away, and dissapeared, as though he were never there.

And then there was nothing for her, but the sound of endless silence.


End file.
